Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at CASology where there is watery theme:

I also decided to combine it with this month's #SimpleStamping challenge set by Stampin' Up!, which was to create an occasion card (new baby, wedding, sympathy) with nothing more than stamps, ink, paper and ribbon. I decided to make a card to welcome a new baby using the 'Perfectly Paired' and created both boy and girl versions. First up, I have an ultra quick and easy #SimpleStamping card - the boy version: 

Here is my second #SimpleStamping card - the girl version: 

This really took just a minute to make - I even made a video to show you how I did it! Here you go:

Easy, right? #SimpleStamping with minimal supplies to produce great results (even if I say so myself!!)

Perfectly Paired is a great set for new baby cards if you're starting out: one main image with a couple of smaller ones too and three sentiments that work for the inside and outside of your cards, tags or even a home decor piece for a new baby's nursery. You could also adapt it to form the basis of christening invitations, so lots of creative possibilities for a single stamp set.

The images can be inked in a single colour or coloured using Blends or watercolour pencils, or you can choose to highlight certain parts of the main image by masking or spotlighting specific area of the main image. Adding a simple bow in a co-ordinating ribbon colour adds a simple touch of luxury to a #SimpleStamping card.

Here's an example of the above card coloured with my combo of Pool Party Stampin' Blends to show how a little extra colour really brings the image to life, but still making it a relatively inexpensive card with only a couple of extra supplies needed:

To really get the most from my supplies, I also stamped a partial image on the front of my envelope and this sentiment on the inside of my card:

Not a naked piece of paper in sight! By keeping things simple and using a basic monochromatic colour scheme, this is a card that can be easily mass-produced with limited supplies and would work well in pretty much any colour. 

Having created my #SimpleStamping cards, I decided to create a stepped up version that is still super simple in style and design but introduces a new technique - heat embossing - for the more adventurous casual or avid crafter. I went with a neutral pale yellow base for this card (always useful to have in your stash if you need a quick baby card but don't know the gender) and this time using a white ribbon - a good choice if you've limited supplies and will go with any colour theme:

You could also add a little selective colour to these images to highlight some of the images if you have a marker of the same colour to give some tonal highlights and just pick out a few of the animals.

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on each of today's projects 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:

Perfectly Paired Cling Stamp Set (£18.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

Pool Party 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.50)

Perfectly Paired Cling Stamp Set (£18.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

Powder Pink 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.50)

Perfectly Paired Cling Stamp Set (£18.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

Pool Party 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.50)

Pool Party Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)

Perfectly Paired Cling Stamp Set (£18.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	So Saffron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon (£7.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Heat Tool (Uk) (£28.00)

Good evening! I was out late last night with the lovely Jane and friends who were hosting a Stampin' Up! party so have been busy placing orders for their goodies today and getting a few other jobs done. Last night we were all about the cupcakes and Easter bunnies, however today here on the blog I'm sharing a Christmas card - yes, a Christmas card! - for this week's CAS(E) This Sketch challenge where they have an intriguing sketch:

I wrestled for ages on whether or not to tackle this sketch and how literally to interpret those sharp lines and then I had a brainwave and my Christmas card was done - take a look:

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

Ready For Christmas - Are you ready for Christmas? Me - not at all, but since it was the title of the stamp set I used for the sentiment and festive baugh on today's card it seemed a fitting eye-catching blog title too! This card is mostly diecutting rather than stamping, however I stamped my pine baugh for extra detail and stamped and fussy-cut my sentiment so that it didn't obscure too much of my festive scene. I also stamped the other part of my sentiment on the inside of my card:

A Christmas Staircase - A flash of inspiration led me to consider how the lines of the sketch looked very much like a staircase, so out came my Christmas Staircase Thinlits that form the basis for today's card. I decided to use the diecut rather than the stamp because I like the fine embossed detail and delicate spindles and wanted this to be the main feature to link it back to the sketch. The decorative pine baugh and diecut bows are from the same die set.

Under The Mistletoe Wallpaper - I used a little piece of Wood Textures paper for my hardwood floor and a piece of Under The Mistletoe designer series paper for my wallpaper to keep with the festive feel. Did you know that you can purchase Christmas supplies all year round from Stampin' Up!? The annual catalogue (pages 93-103) contains a selection of stamps, dies and even papers designed for the holiday season, so there's no excuse not to be Christmas crafting all year round! 

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. 

I'm putting my feet up this evening; enjoy yours too and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Christmas Staircase Thinlits Dies (£36.00)	Ready For Christmas Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Under The Mistletoe A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)

It's Tuesday and I have another animal card for you - actually the first one that I created out of the three I've shared with you in the last few days! This is my main card for this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink where the lovely ladies are all about the letter 'J' :

I am also using Julee's Mojo Monday sketch layout and the colours over at As You See It for my card today.

I love these letter challenges from the JAI team as they really challenge the old grey matter! When having my personal brainstorm of things beginning with J, just like a number of the DT members I immediately thought of the 'Jar of Love' stamp set and 'jigsaw' (check out Lou Kitzlemann's fabulous take on this theme via the link above). I did go with their 'joey' suggestion yesterday, but also came up with a few more of my own (journalling, joined, just because and Joanne to name but a few!) I decided to go with my favourite though, which was 'jumping' and decided it was a great opportunity for a fun interactive card using my free Sale-A-Bration stamp set 'So Hoppy Together' - take a look:

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

J is For Jumping - So whilst the interactive element is not immediately obvious from the flat lay of my photo, my frog is definitely jumping! I've used the frog that is actually riding a unicycle on the stamp, having selectively masked off the unicycle before stamping (I know, I could have just cut my stamp in half and lots of demo friends have, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it!!) Hop Around Framelits Dies to cut him out easily. I coloured him in Granny Apple Green Blends and then attached him to my card with a spring to give him a wobble so that he really way jumping for joy - you can see that in the short video clip below that I shared on my Facebook page today:

The spring simply attaches to the back of the frog with tape, with the other end pushed through the sentiment circle and secured in place on the reverse. Such fun!

Hop To It - I paired my frog with a piece of the Animal Expedition designer series paper that featured frogs on branches as I thought he would make the perfect friend for my jumping frog. I cut my paper carefully to make sure that my frog was both looking in the right direction and positioned in the centre of my square to compliment the overall layout. 

A Creative Sentiment - There are some great additional sentiments in the limited edition 'More Than Words' stamp set that is available this month that co-ordinate with the 'So happy together' frog set, including one that says "leaping for joy is easy to do" - I needed mine to say 'jumping for joy' though to truly fit with the 'J' theme, so I masked out the word 'leaping' and replaced it with 'JUMPING' which features on another stamp in this set, stamping my main sentiment in Soft Suede and my 'JUMPING' in Shaded Spruce for emphasis. The sentiment resolves with the other half on the inside of the card, which I decorated with another jumping frog:

I'm not sure whether it was my excitement at finding my 'J' solution or the fact that this card has a really simple interactive element, but this is one of those cards that is pure fun and I just couldn't wait to share with you! 

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. I have a busy day at my desk and am out visiting the lovely Jane and her crafty friends for a Stampin' Up! party this evening, so mine will be a long but productive one! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£33.00)	So Hoppy Together Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Another Monday and a new start to the week! Today I'm sharing a card a baby card using this week's sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches that also fits this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink:

I still had my Animal Expedition papers out on my desk from the card that I will be sharing tomorrow so decided to make a quick new baby card - take a look:

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

J is For Joey - So today's card features the cute koala/kangaroo combo that I cropped from the Animal Expedition papers using my Animal friends framelits. I was reminded when I read the post over at Just Add Ink that 'joey' is another name for a young kangaroo and that this would therefore work for their challenge this week. This is a bonus entry for me though, as I thought this little joey would be perfect for my baby card today - my scheduled Just Add Ink entry is coming up tomorrow and you are definitely going to want to pop by and see where my musings over the letter 'J' took me - it was just too easy to go with the Design Team's suggestions! Another tip from me when cropping these animals from your designer series paper: crop the identical shape out of extra thick white cardstock and adhere your DSP diecut to it for a more rigid element to prevent it getting squashed in the post.

A Hidden Gem - I used one of the other dies in the Animal Friends set for the vertical 'banner' element of the sketch - an inset vine that has some leaves that are remove completely and some that are attached, allowing them to be brushed up and add a little interest to the design. I genuinely hadn't noticed this die in the set before, hence my reference to it as a 'hidden gem'; I really like it and I can see me using it on lots of cards for added subtle detail.

Subtle Texture - After diecutting the vertical vine element, I ran my layer of Blushing Bride cardstock through the Big Shot with my Subtle embossing folder for a little extra texture and interest. It is indeed subtle, but I think it makes a nice addition before adding my sentiment and diecut animal pair on top.

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:

Animal Friends Thinlits Dies (£27.00)	Animal Outing Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Animal Outing Clear-Mount Bundle (£42.25)	Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)
Subtle Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

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

A one layer wonder for clean and simple week - yay! So a reminder: what do we mean by 'clean and simple' ? Create a card that has:

• Minimal layers and embellishments - this week that means ONE LAYER ONLY
• Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
• Is simple and uncluttered

My clean and simple cards are often one layer and for today's card I knew exactly which set I was going to use - take a look:

I have been looking forward to using the large floral image in the 'All That You Are' stamp set so decided today to stamp the image in Versamark onto thick Whisper White and heat emboss in black for added definition, then colour using my Stampin' Blends in the colours currently in scope over at SUO Challenges: Lovely Lipstick, Granny Apple Green, Pool Party and the bonus colour of Mango Melody. In case you are wondering where the Pool Party features, look closely; I added a line around the outer edge of my stamped image and blended it, to give the image a little lift from the white background. And that's it - stamped, heat embossed and coloured - one layer wonder - done! 

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 have a few things going on but I'm hoping to get a little more time in my craft room finishing off some projects that I started yesterday ready to share with you later this week. I'll be back tomorrow - until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

All That You Are Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)
Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Pool Party Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Mango Melody Dark Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter (£4.25)

Today I'm sneaking in with another card that I made earlier with some leftover pieces from another project that I'm going to share with you on Tuesday - they were perfect for the current sketch over at Inspire.Create Challenge that finishes tomorrow:

This is a great card layout that would work with lots of papers and stamp sets. I had some offcuts of Animal Expedition designer series paper so used them to make a simple notecard - take a look:

I diecut my rhino and birdie pair from a piece of my leftover paper and added to a sentiment on some layered circles and my card was done!

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 my card for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Animal Friends Thinlits Dies (£27.00)	2-1/4" (5.7 Cm) Circle Punch (£17.00)	Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for the new challenge over at Less Is More where following my success in January over at LIM as their January winner, I have the honour of being guest designer this week.

For the challenge that runs for the next two weeks, the challenge is a recipe challenge and here is the badge:

Just Take Three - three images, three colours, three patterns. What fun! Here's my take on the theme:

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

Take Three Bunnies - I so enjoyed making this clean and simple bunny card the other day, I decided that the only thing better than one bunny would be three - perfect for the Less Is More challenge theme! At the time of writing the Bunny Builder Punch is still available to order so if the Bunny Builder Punch is on your wish list, and you haven't yet ordered, don't delay and get your order in sooner rather than later. 

Gingham Gala Trio - I also used three different colours of Gingham Gala designer series paper on my card for my punched bunny silhouettes, this time adding white punched tails to keep a cleaner feel. 

Keeping It Simple - Keeping the paper pattern design the same and leaving plenty of white space around my bunnies, adding only a small sentiment to ground them, allows me to maintain a clean and simple feel. A super simple card with only five key material ingredients - a great card for beginners with very little stamping required.

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 weekend; I am off to watch one of the James Juniors play hockey this afternoon and I'll be back tomorrow with this week's card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bunny Builder Punch (£17.00)

Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)

You’re Inspiring Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS where they have a great code word currently:

Clouds, puppy dogs, sheep - so many possibilities! For me though there was only one thing that sums up 'fluffy' and that's a bunny's tail - take a look:

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

Get Your Bunny Builder Now Whilst You Still Can - I made this card to share with you today, before finding out late yesterday evening that the Bunny Builder Punch is in short supply and about to move to unorderable status at some point in the near future. Unlike two of the Sale-A-Bration Co-ordination items that went the same way within just a few days of ordering and with no notice - the Hop Around Framelits Dies and the Call Me Cupcake Thinlits Dies - we have at least been given a quick heads-up on this one, so if the Bunny Builder Punch is on your wish list, don't delay and get your order in now; it's unclear at this stage whether or not the punch will carry over to the new annual catalogue, so this may be your last chance to snap up this useful little tool, especially with Easter around the corner. 

Gingham Gala - Rather than stamp a bunny, I decided to punch a bunny silhouette out of the Gingham Gala designer series paper. In fresh colours, these papers are perfect for Easter and spring. For me 'fluffy' makes me think of bunny tails, but a punched paper one just wouldn't do - I removed a white pompom from some retired trim and added in to my bunny's bottom - adorable!

Keeping It Simple - A single colour, simple frame and bunny silhouette rather than stamped image keep my card design simple, clean and uncluttered. 

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:

Bunny Builder Punch (£17.00)	Gingham Gala 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	You’re Inspiring Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

I've had two days of back-to-back classes so things have been fairly busy here!  A quick post from me today to share the card that I mentioned in my Paper Players post on Sunday. Our theme this week is 'colours of the rainbow' so I couldn't resist creating one with the cupcake die in the Detailed Birthday Edgelit Die set too - take a look:

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

A Rainbow Of Cupcakes - Just like Sunday's card - you can see it here if you missed it - I wanted to utilise all of the colours of the rainbow on my card. I played around with the edgelits on this card too in order to accommodate this, cutting two sets of three cupcakes from one piece of Whisper White cardstock to give me a total of six cupcakes. I used my seventh and final rainbow colour, violet, or in this case Highland Heather, as the background for my card and to highlight the detail on the cupcake cases.

 A Little Paper Piecing - The pieces for the cupcake details are larger and easier to manipulate than for the presents die, so on today's card I used the edgelits to cut a set of cupcakes in each colour and used the pieces from the frosting to inlay them into my white die surround.

Go Long - As a result of using two diecuts joined at the centre, my cardfront is long and narrow as opposed to the standard A6 size that I usually make. This is a nice way to ring the changes with a card and with my BoxBuster tool and trusty Envelope Punch Board on hand to make a custom envelope, need not be an issue when it comes to needing to mail it.

There's very little stamping on today's card - just a heat-embossed sentiment on the front and a greeting with cupcake decoration inside:

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Birthday Cheer Cling Bundle (£42.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Brights A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

T

Happy Monday everyone! Today is the start of my class week, so it will b a busy one Chez James! Today's card is one I made that uses the current sketch layout over at Just Add Ink and the colour palette at Color Throwdown:

I thought these colours would be perfect for a birthday card featuring one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, Lovely Lattice - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Lovely Lattice - There is lots you can do with this stamped image - many ways to colour it, and lots of options to cut it out and build layers and dimension with the flowers too - but I like it because the main image is one of those that can fill the card and there isn't much else required. I heat embossed my image in white onto Crumb Cake cardstock which really does show the detail of the lattice behind the flowers beautifully. For a free stamp set, this one really is rather pretty - and still available if you'd like to get your hands on it with a spend of £45 or more. Who doesn't love FREE product?!

Colour on Kraft - I decided to colour the image using my watercolour pencils, but dry with no added water for blending, as I wanted to see the pencil strokes; I used a combination of Gorgeous Grape, white and Basic Grey pencils, with a tiny spot of Crushed Curry for the flower stamens. 

Birthday Wishes - The 'Lovely Lattice' stamp set is sentiment-free, so I reached for one of my favourites from the current Spring-Summer catalogue that you haven't seen me use much here on my blog but rest assured they will be a keeper for me, regardless of whether or not they carry over to this year's new annual catalogue: the Well Said bundle. The' Well Said' stamp set combined with the Well Written Framelits dies really are the perfect pair and allow you to create endless sentiment combinations. I added a piece of Gorgeous Grape mini striped ribbon behind my layered sentiment and a sprinkling of pearls 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lovely Lattice Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)	Well Said Cling Bundle (£71.00)	Gorgeous Grape 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Mini Striped Ribbon (£7.50)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Watercolor Pencils (£15.00)