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 I have my favourite, a sketch challenge, for us to work with:

I designed my layout with a few layers and a focal sentiment; there's lots of scope for interpretation. I decided to keep my card really simple as I wanted to play with some of the new items in the Floral Delight Suite - take a look:

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

Floral Delight - First up, I used a piece of the Floral Delight designer series paper to cover the whole of my card base. The yellow and blue designs in this paper pack are so cheery and reminiscent of spring - so pretty! I chose a pale blue design covered in bold, bright yellow flowers and kept the rest of my card pretty simple so that it really allowed these florals to shine.

Delightful Wishes - For my focal sentiment, I combined the stamps and dies from the Delightful Wishes bundle, focusing on the layered diecut for the word 'wishing' as my centrepiece:

The sentiments in this set are great and the die can be combined with the stamped elements to create several different greetings. I added them to an elongated rectangle cut with the Nested Essentials Dies, with a couple of flagged banners beneath. I also added a couple of the tiny bee trinkets too - so sweet!

Inside Stamping - There is minimal stamping on the front of my card, so I thought I would use some of the other stamps in the set to decorate the inside:

This stamped flower spray is a two-step stamp and was really easy to line up, adding in the twigs and leaves after the blossoms. I made this card as a get well card for a friend who has recently been a little under the weather; I hope she likes it.

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:

Enjoy your day; I'll be spending mine indoors keeping warm and doing a little cooking and crafting, no big plans. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made using Amy's sketch layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and has a little stencil detail for Just Us Girls:

This is a great layout to showcase some designer series paper, so whilst I had my new pack of Floral Delight designer series paper out on my desk for tomorrow's card (spoiler alert!), I decided to make a second card featuring another of the bold floral patterns in the pack - take a look:

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

I chose a design with large yellow blooms on a white background and used a whole panel of it. On the right hand side of my central panel, I lightly stencilled some Pool Party ink through a stencil made with one of the Delightful Wishes Dies and added another flower, this time fussy cut from another piece of this paper. Then I added a layered diecut and sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Delightful Wishes' bundle, adding a single tiny bee trinket embellishment to finish:

 How cute is that? I love this Floral Delight Suite - the bright yellows, white and pale blue colour combination is totally in my wheelhouse and I can't wait to get more creative with 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 '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:

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge for our first challenge of the year, chosen by Heather H:

I actually found this an easy one! I am often guilty of buying the fabulous kits that Stampin' Up! sells - then not finding the time to make them up! I love the idea of quick crafting and will often take a kit in my bag for a spot of 'crafting on the go' but rarely make time to make one up 'just for fun'. So I decided to start as I mean to go on and reached for the Rainbow Celebration card kit that I actually received FREE as part of our current Sale-A-Bration promotion and set to work. This card makes 6 cards, two each of three designs. Here's a shot showing all three designs:

The cards themselves are rainbow shaped and come with coordinating printed envelopes too. This is a no-stamping kit: the card bases are pre-printed and each of the designs requires the addition of a spotted rainbow band, some diecut clouds and two sentiment labels. All you have to do is sort the pieces and pair with the respective bases, then add the provided foam dimensionals to each of the pieces as per the instructions and then build the card. Here's a close-up of each of the designs in turn:

Here's the second one:

 And finally, the third design:

The cards are great for birthdays and to send someone congratulations - they took less than 10 minutes to put together and best of all the kit can be yours for FREE with a £55 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - bonus! If that's not a reason to fall in love with kits, I don't know what is!

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

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

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

So how will you fill in the blank? What crafting habits are you looking to adopt in 2025? Do let me know in a comment below or better still, share with us over on the challenge page. We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

Right, I'm off to make up two more kits that I've yet to break the seal on - the Perpetual Beauty Calendar and Nature's Beauty Watercolour Kit are calling my name! To view the full range of Stampin' Up! kits in the online store, click here. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we feature a torn corner on our cards:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

I couldn't wait to use today's sketch to feature a shoreline and one of the fun seagulls from the new 'Terrific Seagulls' stamp set - take a look: 

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

So Swirly Sea - I used my So Swirly embossing folder to add some texture to my sea; the new Soft Waves 3D embossing folder would work perfectly too (but I don't have that in my collection - yet!) I then tore a piece of basic white for my sea 'foam' and painted it liberally with my clear Wink of Stella for some added sparkle and shine:

Friendly Seagulls - This is my first card that I've made with the 'Friendly Seagulls' set, but I have loads more to share with you - I just love this set! Great for cards and scrapbooking alike, quirky seagulls, shells, fish and chips and cute sentiments, I have so many great ideas for this set! I stamped some tone-on-tone pebbles onto my Basic Beige card base, then coloured and fussy cut one of the gulls to paddle at the shoreline. I added another of the seagulls in the set to the inside of my card too:

Another fabulous FREE gift that can be yours with a £55 purchase during Sale-A-Bration - does this set make it into your shopping basket? 

Finally A Confession - Finally, one last confession - it was only when I typed up my post that I realised that I put my sentiment in a different place to Rachel's sketch - hopefully she will forgive me!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SO SWIRLY EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC BEIGE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

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

I decided to focus on one stamp set and two colours, courtesy of Color Dare, and create a clean and simple card with something of a collage feel - take a look:

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

Stamped With Love - I used the largest Perennial postage die to cut my mat and I couldn't not use the 'Stamped With Love' stamp set this week - the postbox was just perfect for this week's theme! I heat-embossed the post box onto Real Red cardstock and paper-pieced the letter and separately stamped the letter and pen before adding my sentiment. 

Top Tip - I have a great tip when you are fussy-cutting images without a white border, as I've done today: if you run the edge of a Stampin' Write marker around the cut edge, it will give you a lovely solid black line and disguise any less than perfect cutting. you're welcome :-)

A Hint of Pink - To balance the red of my postbox and diecut heart, I stencilled a pale pink heart using a stencil I made using the Friends For Life dies and added a stamped heart to the back of the postbox letter. I finished the rather quirky sentiment on the inside of my card and added another couple of pink hearts to decorate:

This rather understated love note will be perfect for the youngest of the James Juniors, who will appreciate the sentiment. My layering may be stretching the bounds of clean and simple slightly this week, but I tried to balance my collage-style design with plenty of surrounding white space and no embellishments. What do you think of today's card? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STAMPED WITH LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE DIES (ENGLISH) (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

Hurrah for the weekend! Today I'm sharing a quick card that uses the layout over at Atlantic Heart Sketches:

 It's also perfect for the 'Just Add Something New' challenge over at Just Add Ink as I'm using both a new stamp set and my favourite new Toadstool Gardens designer series paper - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Toadstool Gardens - I really wanted to feature the patterned toadstool garden paper - it's my favourite! - so I used this for the panels and used another of the sheets with a grey woodgrain pattern for my background. I added a panel of bright orange, wrapped with white baker's twine for interest, for my horizontal strip. I finished by stamping my sentiment onto one of the Greetings of the Season labels and adding to the centre:

Top Tip - I covered the hole on my diecut sentiment label with an enamel dot and need to add one in the same position on the opposite side. And so to my top tip today: the easiest way to position your enamel dot with the exact same spacing on the opposite side is take your diecut label, rotate it 180 degrees in the die and mark through the hole with a piercing tool - remove the label from the die then place your enamel dot directly on top. Perfect positioning! 

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:

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	GREETINGS OF THE SEASON DIES (30.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the layout over at TGIF Challenges and is made with a teenage boy in mind (although it's fair to say that a remake in different colours could make this card feminine too):

I wanted to have a play with another new Sale-A-Bration set so grabbed my stamps, ink and paper and set to work - take a look at what I came up with:

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

First up - I love this sketch! So simple, yet so many creative possibilities! I actually decided to go super clean and simple and grabbed some bright colours and scraps of cardstock and set to work. The highlight of today's card is the background - I used two of the sentiments from the stamp set and the confetti stamp and randomly stamped all over my base to create a fun tone-on-tone design. I added my banners and heat-embossed a rosette and fussy cut it before adding to my sentiment banner as an accent: 

A trio of gold enamel gems was all I need to add a touch of subtle sparkle to my card - oh so easy to create! I added a little extra stamping to the inside too, using more confetti and the megaphone to 'shout' the remainder of my sentiment:

With the youngest of the James Juniors sitting A-Levels this year, I am going to need lots of congratulations cards, especially for boys, so I'm definitely going to get lots of use from this free set. How about you? Do you know someone sitting exams this year - does 'Day To Celebrate' make it onto your Sale-A-Bration shopping list? Do let me know; better still, hop on over to my Online store and pick up yours today!

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:

LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

Today I've a quick post to share a card that I made for a friend of mine who is celebrating the arrival of her first grandchild - what a wonderful occasion! I used the sketch over at Try A Sketch on Tuesday for my layout and am also linking up over at Time Out where their theme is 'new beginnings':

My friend Deborah is welcoming the birth of a grandson, Xander, so there was only one set to use - the retired 'Treasures of Life stamp set. Take a look at my simple card:

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

The sentiments in this set are just perfect for a card to send to grandparents to celebrate a new grandchild, so I couldn't resist using two either side of the main image on my card. This did mean I had to square-off those shapes on the sketch in order to fit everything in, but I think it works. I did all my stamping in Basic Grey as it gives a softer edge - perfect for a new baby card. I also used a neutral grey base, so that I could highlight my Balmy Blue ribbon bow and my main image, which I coloured with my watercolour pencils. I was tempted to use my go-to Stampin' Blends markers, but decided that pencils would add to the softness and enable me to colour the woman's hair better. I don't have a photo to prove it, so you'll just have to take my word for it, but the slightly spooky thing about this image, is that it actually looks uncannily like my friend from behind - so I decided to colour it in her likeness.

My friend Deborah is a fellow crafter and a lover of all things clean and simple, so I hope she likes today's card.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 2 (14.00)	BLENDER PENS (14.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)
BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Elizabeth to host this week and she has a bright colour challenge to welcome in the new year:

I love this trio of bright colours - the perfect antidote to a grey winter's day! These colours also appear in some of my new designer paper, so I decided to grab it and along with Karren's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used my 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set again to stamp a trio of toadstools in Melon Mambo pink and Pumpkin Pie orange, this time masking the stems before I stamped the caps so that I could cut them out seamlessly as one piece - you can see the ink effects below:

I added some greenery and iridescent dots, along with a sentiment, and adhered them to a diecut circle. For the background strips, I added a co-ordinating diecut strip, a thin piece of Pumpkin Pie and the main panel which is piece of striped Toadstool Gardens designer paper - one of the products that can be yours FREE with a £55 purchase during Sale-A-Bration. There are so many fun patterns in this paper pack and they co-ordinate beautifully with the Terrific Toadstools bundle. I added a co-ordinating flap to my envelope too because, well, you can never have too much designer series paper right, especially if it's FREE! So what do you think - does the Toadstool Gardens paper make it on to your Sale-A-Bration wishlist?

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:

Enjoy your day; I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	SUNNY DAY IRIDESCENT DOTS (7.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our first challenge of the year over at As you See It where we are kicking things off with a colour challenge chosen by Heather C:

I used the current sketch layout over at SUO Challenges and grabbed a new stamp set and die bundle and set to work - take a look:

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

Mixed Petals is a new Online Exclusives stamp set that I thought would work well with the challenge colours. I used some retired Berry Burst gingham paper for my background panel, then added a diecut in Peach Pie glimmer paper and a second one of the large stamped image in the set, that I coloured with my Stampin' Blends. I liked the idea of created some variegated colour tulips - I love that tulips come in such vibrant colours in real life:

I used the greys for my stems and leaves; a little poetic license for sure, however I do love the finished effect as it really allows the petals to stand out. I added a thank you sentiment from 'Thoughtful Wishes' and few coloured pearls and 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Sunday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	THOUGHTFUL WISHES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (10.25)	BERRY BURST A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BERRY BURST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
PEACH PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (8.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED PEARL TRIO (7.00)