It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am your featured designer this week! This is the fun board that I came up with for us to play along with: 

So many ways that I could have gone with my board this week, but I eventually settled with the first column and wings/leaves/nature as the basis for my card. I was also inspired by the wonderful inspiration photo over at The Card Concept this week in more ways than one - more on that below! Firstly, here's the card I came up with - take a look:

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

Dragonfly Garden - I have a class with the Dragonfly Garden bundle next week so have been working a lot with this set in recent weeks and I thought it would be perfect to create a meadow-style background for my beehive today. I stamped the long florals in a repeating pattern and then blended a trio of yellow inks across my panel, before tearing my edges and adding some additional colour to the flowers with my Stampin' Blends, reflecting the yellow black-eyed susans and the purple florals in the Card Concept photo (leaves and nature on the TTT grid - check!). I also added some outline blooms and a little ink blending to the inside of my card:

A Skep For A Bee - In addition to the florals, I was draw to the skep and the bee-decorated plates in the inspiration photo. Skeps are traditionally made of straw, so I used a retired die from the Detailed Bee Dies set to create an outline, covered it in a self-adhesive sheet then took some retired jute twine and created my very own rustic-looking skep. Of course I couldn't have a skep without a bee - and a beautiful gold bumblebee trinket was the perfect finishing touch (and gave me 'wings' for my grid)! Whilst bee skeps are often seen in kitchen/ceramic/artistic designs, did you know in many countries it's actually illegal to keep bees in skeps? This is because the bees cement their combs inside their skeps and they can't be removed and inspected for diseases. In addition, when the beekeeper removes the honey the bees are either killed or made homeless, which isn't the case with more modern box hives; so keeping skeps as a decorative feature seems much more sensible!

A Change In Style - My regular readers will now that this card is something of a departure from my usual clean and layered style. The ink blending, torn edges, textured dimensional skep and bee make my card much more 'shabby chic' (there are some great design definitions over on the Card Concept website which I highly recommend you check out if you're interested in this kind of thing). So what do you think - did I pull it off? Whilst this is a little different for me, I did have a lot of fun working outside of my comfort zone for a little while.

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. 

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DRAGONFLY GARDEN CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Samantha is hosting this month and this week we have a colour challenge: 

For my card today I also chose to use the sketch and thank you theme over at Fusion and made another card with my Lots of Hearts bundle that was out on my desk when I made Sunday's card - take a look:

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

Lots of Heart - Today's card features a scalloped heart overlaid with the floral heart die that also comes in the Many Hearts Dies set. I picked up this set long after Valentine's, but I like how although it features hearts it is a great 'all year round' set and has some lovely sentiments too.

A Colour Conundrum - As I often find when I'm faced with a trio of colours, two become dominant and the third takes something of a back seat. That absolutely played out on today's card: I used some Soft See Foam and Highland Heather DSP to compliment the colours of the diecut flowers and leaves, and given the muted tones of my pastels, I was struggling to incorporate either Blushing Bride ink or cardstock without it overpowering the other elements of my card. I solved my problem by using it really sparingly - I found some retired Blushing Bride enamel dots in my stash and used them to accent the centre of my open flowers - problem solved!

You're All Heart - As I mentioned above, there are some great generic sentiments in the 'Lots of Heart' set; to accompany the 'thank you' on the outside of my card, I stamped this one on the inside of my card, complete with a stamped-off Blushing Bride pink heart:

I actually really like this card and think the soft pastels are really pretty - so looking forward to seeing what you make of these colours this week!

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:

LOTS OF HEART BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	HYDRANGEA HILL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	SUBTLES 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£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 Anne Marie to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

This week's challenge is all about polka dots - how fun! Remember it's clean and simple week too, which means:

• Minimal layers
• Little to no embelllishments
• Lots of clean, white space (no pattern)

I was considering my options as far as polka dots are concerned and actually made a couple of cards for you today: the first one uses the 'Lots of Hearts' bundle from the current mini catalogue - take a look:

These hearts are just perfect for today's challenge as they have both a stamped polka dot and a die that creates a heart shape from diecut polka dots. I paired these with an outline heart and used the sketch over at Inspired By this week for my layout, along with coral, peach and lemon yellow as my three neighbouring colours from the Color Dare challenge wheel (see badges above). With some polka dot DSP behind, there are lots of dots on my card, whilst still retaining a CAS feel:

I also added a few more inside, with a continuation of my sentiment in the corner to allow lots of space for uninterrupted writing:

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. 

I did create a second card for today's challenge, using the sketch layout over at Fab Friday:

When I think 'polka dots', I immediately think Minnie Mouse (no apologies from this Disney fan!) so I couldn't resist another card with some punch art featuring the second most famous mouse of all time:

I went unashamedly pink with this card, using the Stitched with Whimsy dies to outline my rectangle and added a fussy cut sentiment from the 'Happiest of Birthdays' set to finish:

This is my favourite of the cards that I created this week - so simple, but super cute!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOTS OF HEART BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)

Today I've a quick post to share a card using Julee's current Mojo Monday sketch:

I couldn't resist another pansy card - take a look:

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

My paper choices were not where I started out with today's card, but I ended up being drawn again to the bold designs in the Pansy Petals pack as they seemed to compliment my Calypso Coral/Pale Papaya pansy perfectly. My diecut pansy was the starting point for today's card - the layering and embossed detailing is so pretty, and some additional sponged colour to the edges of the petals and leaves makes them even more defined:

A sentiment from the Pansy Patch stamp set completes my card front.

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:

PANSY PATCH BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	PANSY PETALS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

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 joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk 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 joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk or give me a call!