Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a seasonal 'fill in the blank' challenge:

Jane chose our theme this week and whilst ordinarily daffodils, followed by tulips, are most definitely the flowers I most look forward to the arrival of in Spring, the first flower of spring in my garden is always the pansy; they are one of the few flowers that I ever manage to over-winter and are a most welcome sight before the bulbs flower, so I couldn't resist another card with my new pansy suite - take a look:

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

Pansies For The Avid Crafter - The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that this card uses the same layout as the clean and simple 'hello' pansy card that I shared with you earlier this week. I liked the idea of the mini-slimline card so much that I thought I would take the opportunity to create another card using the same layout, this time a birthday card (so I'm also linking up over at Global Design Project #GDP291) and stepping things up to create a card for the avid crafter. I chose to showcase another new in colour, Fresh Freesia on today's card and still diecut my pansies from the Pansy Petals designer paper, but this time I added leaves too. I also added some ink splatter using my Blackberry Bliss Stampin' Write marker to my scalloped rectangle background along with some loops of the new Fresh Freesia open weave ribbon that I had split lengthways, along with a sprinkle of the new in-colour jewels - these are so pretty!

The Inside Detail - I added a stamped pansy to the inside of my card, along with another of the sentiments from the Pansy Patch set; there are a great mix and size/style of sentiment in this set:

Casual or Avid? - I thought you might like to see both Tuesday's clean and simple card and today's stepped-up version alongside it so that you could see both the similarities and differences. Which one do you prefer?

I really like both but am quite partial to today's card as it features one of my favourite colours - purple. I am also really liking this min-slimline design too - sometimes even just changing the style of a card freshens things up I think.

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

In other news: Fridays are always busy in the James household and today is no exception. The weather has been so wet here in the UK this week that the tumble dryer has also been brought back into full service, since the washing line outside is once again a lost cause and I am playing Widow Twanky (a classic pantomime reference for my overseas readers!) On the bright side though, Friday is also Food & Nutrition day for young Master James, and today he is making fresh coleslaw and spicy potato wedges in class to accompany hot dogs or burgers. There may be no opportunity to cook those on the BBQ given the forecast but I am thankful that dinner has been taken care of by someone other than me, so no complaints here! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PANSY PATCH BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	PANSY PETALS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FRESH FREESIA 3/8" (1 CM) OPEN WEAVE RIBBON (£6.50)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Samantha has asked that we create a mini slimline card measuring 3.5" x 6.25" using the following layout: 

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

So slimline cards are truly 'in vogue' at the moment, but I haven't yet made one in this mini slimline size. For my card today I went with the new in-colour Polished Pink and some pansies - take a look:

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

This card was super simple to put together: a base of Polished Pink and an extended scalloped stitched rectangle in white, with a strip of Melon Mambo onto which I heat-embossed my sentiment. I then used my Pansy Dies to diecut a large and small pink pansy from the Pansy Petals designer paper and added a trio of clear faceted gems to finish. 

I added a little extra stamped pansy to finish off the inside of 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. 

I really like this mini-slimline card size - I need to make some custom envelopes now to fit!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PANSY PATCH BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	PANSY PETALS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (£7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Laurie to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for us to work with:

I thought I was going to run a mile when I saw Laurie's colour palette for this week, but a happy accident meant that I actually had my card made well ahead of time for a change! Take a look at my card then I'll explain:

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

Pampered and Playful Pets - I decided that today's colours would work perfectly for a pet sympathy card featuring the 'Pampered Pets' stamp set. I heat embossed the outline of one of the dogs in black onto basic grey cardstock and made him the centrepiece of my card. I did use some of the recently retired Playful Pets DSP for my background panel for some black and red detail and added a big red heart behind my puppy for an added pop too. 

For Your Loss - I added one of the sentiments from the set to my scalloped square beneath my focal image - I think this sentiment is just perfect to let someone know you are thinking of them when they have lost a furry friend:

A Step Up - The reason today's card came to quickly to me was that I had all of these elements out on my desk when I needed to make this card; I needed something much more clean and simple for my original card, but since I had the bits and pieces out on my desk, I decided to make a stepped up version - and that turned out to be perfect for today's challenge. Here are both of my recent sympathy cards with this set together:

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; happy Mother's Day to all of my overseas readers who are celebrating today - I hope you are well and truly spoiled! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PETS DIES (£21.00)	PAMPERED PETS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the third column with Heat Embossing/Diecuts/Circles and made another boy's birthday card with my now retired 'Zany Zebras' stamp set that I used on my Paper Players card earlier this week (if you missed it, you can see that card here) - take a look:

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

I used a ton of retired product on my card today: Zany Zebras, Playing with Patterns paper, Stitched Shapes Dies, enamel stars and Large Dot embossing folder to name but a few, but I think they were totally fitting for the grid and they combine to make a fun birthday card for a boy. Check out the hat on my zebra with oversized tassle too:

I also added some words and another fun zebra to the inside of my card:

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project today or supplies list as so much came from the storecupboard!

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge.

I'm also linking today's card up over at the Festive Friday Challenge where I chose red, blue and emboss as my 3 (I realise I also have stitching too with my circle!) and am making another entry over at SUO Challenges for their 'animals' theme.

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

This card was a Festive Faves Winner for #FF0083

Today I'm sharing a card using the colour palette over at Fab Friday:

I was intrigued by their colour combo for this challenge as it wasn't one that I would normally use, but I thought it would give me the opportunity to try a colouring technique that I've seen in blogland recently - take a look at my card and I'll explain:

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

I featured two more black and white patterns from the True Love designer paper pack on my card today - I just love these papers! I used a striped panel for my background and coloured some of the stripes in each of the challenge greens, and added a thin line of Terracotta Tile to the widest green stripe. I then added some simple panels and a sentiment on a stitched oval, that I embellished with some ribbon loops and a pair of flowers fussy cut from another piece of True Love DSP - and so to my experiment! I've seen some great examples of florals coloured with a 'flicking' technique, where after colouring the main blossom a contrasting colour is added with a thin pen. This paper was a great place to start as I simply followed the lines of the print:

This was also a good choice since I could use my Stampin' Write marker to add this detail, as this colour doesn't exist as a Stampin' Blend. The eagle-eyed amongst you might also recognise the layout I used for my card; this was the sketch for the previous Fab Friday challenge which I didn't manage to take part in, but I thought it would be perfect for my card today - so a double thank you, Fab Friday team for your 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 '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:

TRUE LOVE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMNGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SOFT SEA FOAM STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

The new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue goes live today and it's time to announce my new Product Shares!

You know that feeling - you want it all, but your budget just doesn't stretch that far? Well shares are the perfect answer! You get a little bit of everything, without having to purchase a full pack. A share can also act as a 'try before you buy' - you get to see papers, ribbons, buttons and accessories 'up close and personal' before deciding which ones you like the most and would like to purchase as a full pack.

Shares work really easily: you decide which shares and how many you would like to take part in. You place your order by emailing me at [email protected] and I will invoice you and arrange payment. Once the closing date for the first round of shares is reached, I collate the orders, place an order with Stampin' Up! for the product, then once I receive it, I package the papers and send them out to you. Simple!

So much to choose from! I am currently focusing on paper shares and have two different shares on offer:

New Annual Catalogue Designer Series Paper Share - all sheets measure 6" x 6" - £28.50 plus £3 P&P

• Beauty of the Earth – 12
• Bloom Where You're Planted – 12
• Expressions in Ink – 12
• Hand Penned - 12
• In The Wild – 12
• Pansy Petals – 12
• Simply Elegant – 12
• Sweet Symmetry – 12
• Tidings of Christmas – 12
• You're A Peach – 12

In all you'll receive 120  6"x 6" sheets of Designer Series Paper! You can check out the details of the papers in the online catalogue here.

New Colour Family Paper Share - all sheets measure 6" x 6" - £21.50 plus £3 P&P

• Brights – 20
• Neutrals – 20
• Regals – 20
• Subtles – 20 

In this share you will receive a total of 80 sheets of paper. 

Want It All? £50 - and you'll get shares of all the new Designer Series Papers and the new colour family Designer Series Paper Stacks, and that includes postage & packaging! If you choose this option, I will also include a sample of the new Pattern Party hostess papers for FREE!

If you would like double or more shares of any particular thing, then that's fine too. I will cut your paper shares into 6" x 12" sheets where possible to give you more crafting flexibility (for the DSP stacks you will simply get double the number of sheets since they are already pre-cut to 6" x 6").

All postage & packaging quoted is for UK only - if you would like a cost for shipping to Europe, then please email me for a separate quotation.

The deadline to sign up to the first round of shares is Friday 7th May at 9am GMT. 

If you live local to me and would like to save on postage and packaging costs, please email me with your requirements and I will happily place your order, to be ready for doorstep collection on delivery. If you have any questions, just email me at [email protected] or give me a call!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Samantha is hosting for the month of May and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

Samantha's chosen colours this week are very reminiscent of the 2021 Pantone Colour of the Year pairing of grey and yellow so are very contemporary and on point. I wanted the yellow to be my 'white space' on my card as I wanted to use white as part of my design, so I grabbed this week's Global Design Project sketch layout and set to work with my 'In Bloom' stamp set and co-ordinating Pierced Blooms Dies - take a look:

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

I used the label from the Pierced Blooms dieset for my sentiment which I stamped in Basic Grey, then added a cluster of diecut flowers and leaves in the challenge colours and white to mimic the circular shape of the sketch. In order to preserve a feeling of CAS and my all-important white (or yellow!) space, I resisted the urge to add any additional embellishments to my card:

I had a spare diecut flower leftover so I added that to the inside 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. I really love this dieset and am thrilled that it has carried over to the new annual catalogue too so will be with us beyond the end of June when the mini catalogue leaves us. I can see me getting lots more use from it!

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:

IN BLOOM BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

The wait is over - it's May 4th and the new 2021-22 Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue is here! You will find a permanent link to the new catalogue on the right hand side of my blog but for today you need look no further than the picture below which will take you straight to the new catalogue: 

The new catalogue is fantastic, with so many great new products to choose from. I've sent paper copies to everyone who has shopped with me in the last 6 months; a digital copy of the new catalogue can be accessed via the image above and it will be permanently linked via my blog on the right hand side if you don’t have a paper copy and wish to browse. If you have your paper copy and just want to go straight to the shop to place your order, click here - ordering systems have now fully transitioned from the old stock items to the new so you are good to go! Also, remember to add the current hostess code for May 6N4HU7SN if your order is less than £150 and ensure your preferences are set to 'contactable' to receive a thank you in the post from me.

There are also a couple of promotions that go live today to coincide with the launch of the new catalogue:

The first is the hostess promotion that I talked about in this post. As a reminder, you can earn an additional £20 of hostess rewards when you have party sales of £200 or more between May 4th - June 14th: 

Just because we are still experiencing some social distancing, doesn't mean we can't get together. If you would like to organise a virtual party with me, just let me know - numbers are unlimited and it can be a great way to connect with friends far and wide for a session of crafty fun! 

If your wishlist is long, you might also want to consider a cracking good join promotion that is running through the month of May too: 

It’s a fabulous time to join Stampin’ Up! From 4–31 May, new team members get even MORE FREE products in their customisable Starter Kit: new team members can get £130 £154 worth of products for only £99 + free business supplies + free shipping + all the fun being a part of Stampin’ Up! I would love to chat with you about the benefits of joining my team and being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator; as always, you can always find the link to join my team on the right hand side of my blog page; alternatively it's right here if you fancy jumping right in!

I also have a number of classes lined up in coming months featuring products from the new catalogue - the first of which are detailed below:

• May 10th: Paper Pumpkin Bouquet of Hope Craft Along
• May 24th: Monthly Class: Dragonfly Garden
• June 21st: Monthly Class: Pansy Patch

Full details for these classes can be found on my Facebook Events Page  or alternatively under the 'Events/classes' tab on my website.

That's a lot of information for one post; if I were you I would put the kettle on, put your feet up and get comfy and settle down with your new catalogue for a browse and start creating that all-important wish list!

Back later this morning with today's creative post; until then, happy shopping!

The brand new 2021–2022 Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue goes live tomorrow on 4 May 2021, and Stampin’ Up! is having a celebration!

Stampin' Up! is all about connecting with others and sharing our love of crafting. Now when you connect and craft, you'll also collect the rewards! Anyone who places an order of £200+ or holds a party with £200+ in sales between May 4 - June 14 will receive £20 in extra Stampin’ Rewards!!  So that means that you’ll earn £44 at least in Stampin’ Rewards with any order or party of £200+ that is submitted between these dates! Yay!!

Here are the details:

• Customer, workshop and online order types all qualify for this promotion.
• Starter Kit orders do not qualify for this promotion.  But you CAN use your host cash toward the purchase of your Starter Kit, ask me for details!
• The qualifying amount must be reached with merchandise prior to shipping and tax.
• The £20 additional Stampin’ Rewards for this promotion will only be awarded once per order/party.
• Order Deadline:  June 14, 2021; 10:50 PM (BST)

Here is a flyer with the details:

Want to host a catalogue party?

Just because we are still social distancing, doesn't mean you can't still host a Stampin' up! party! If you would like to gather virtually with some friends, I can set up a host code for you and you can have your stamping friends place orders with your host code online.  If your party reaches £200 in sales, you’ll get that extra £20 in host cash when we close out your party! If you’re interested, ask me for details!

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone! As is typical it's raining here in the UK so it's a great day for crafting! Today I'm sharing a card that I made using this week's colours over at Color Throwdown for an ombre blended background for another crack at the challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week. I also used the sketch over at Inspired By:

Here's my card that also bids farewell to another retiring stamp set:

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

I created an ombre background using all three colours and my blending brushes, then over-stamped this with the floral stem from the 'Friend Like You', adding the flowers to my Pear Pizzazz stems in Calypso Coral and Blushing Bride. I added a pair of black dragonflies in place of the circle on the sketch, although in hindsight I wish I'd masked off a circle to give it more prominence. I added a black diecut for an additional silhouette of meadow flowers over the top and finished with a sentiment from the same set. I adhered the diecut at the base only, allowing the diecut piece to float freely:

So today's card is a final reminder that this evening is the last time you will be able to order those products that are retiring from the annual catalogue as a new one goes live tomorrow. Many items have sold out, but there are still bargains to be had - check them out in the online store here, but you have to be quick!

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; following a quick visit to the garden centre this morning in what felt like arctic winds, it has rained constantly all day. So I've put gardening on hold in favour of crafting! I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches and of course the launch of the new Stampin' up! annual catalogue - I can't wait!  Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIEND LIKE YOU PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)