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 fun theme challenge for you to work with:

I'm not generally into pale colours but I was really drawn to the pastels over at the Color Throwdown challenge this week, and was also inspired by their photo of those old-time Love Hearts sweets to make another Valentine card and create some love hearts of my own - take a look:

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

Today's card has no stamping at all! I decided to use a slimline card layout and create a layered square in each of the CTD challenge colours, using one each of a scallop-edged square, stitched square and a diecut heart from the Wreath Builder Die set. Each square is so simple, yet the detail of each of the diecut pieces is what makes this card so pretty:

A quartet of pastels that look good enough to eat! In additon to playing over at Color Throwdown, I'm also linking up over at Just Us Girls where their word this week is 'Valentine'. 

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; I've been decorating so am hoping to get a little more done today. Whilst the James Juniors are still hoping for snow, it's looking less and less likely. The arrival of the 'Beast From The East Mark Two' is threatening to push daytime temperatures below zero, so unless there's the opportunity to build a snowman, I'll be staying safely indoors! I'll be back tomorrow with another project using these colours. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WREATH BUILDER DIES (£35.00)

STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

LAYERING SQUARES DIES (£33.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

SUBTLES A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a quick clean and simple card for the challenges over at Color Throwdown and CASology:

I was really drawn to the pastels of the Color Throwdown palette this week and having decided to use them for my Paper Players card tomorrow (you'll have to come back in the morning to see that one!) I ended up making two more cards using the same colours. Here's the first one:

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

I stamped eight tone-on-tone envelopes from the 'Snailed It' stamp set and diecut them using the co-ordinating die, then layered them in two columns onto a white raised scalloped stitched rectangle. My sentiment is stamped in grey and from the set 'A Little Lace', where I masked off the last part of the sentiment to suit my card. How sweet are those little pieces of colourful happy mail:

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. 

A quick and easy CAS notecard! Tomorrow's card uses these colours again and I will share my third card that features them on Monday.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SNAILED IT CLING STAMP SET (£18.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	SUBTLES A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	A LITTLE LACE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where we have a colour challenge for you this week:

I don't mind admitting these colours threw me for a loop initially - all I could see were elephants, donkeys and apples! Anyway, having seen the card that my teamie Jane made this week, I decided I just needed to have a trawl through my stamp collection and see what I could come up with. I found my 'Walk In The Woods' stamp set and decided the palette would work perfectly for some toadstools - take a look at what I came up with:

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

This week's card is definitely 'less is more': I stamped the cluster of toadstools initially in Sahara Sand and coloured the image with my water painters for a little no-line watercolouring. Once dry, I decided that the simple image looked a little flat, so overstamped the outline again in Basic Grey, which added in some much needed detail:

A heat-embossed sentiment in white on Basic Grey and some (retired) Poppy Parade chunky twine bow ties the image in with my mat and card base and completes 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 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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WALK IN THE WOODS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SAHARA SAND CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WATER PAINTERS (£11.25)

Today I'm sharing a card for the final challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I'm so sad this challenge is ending! I thought this sketch was a tricky one, and I did take quite a liberal interpretation, but since it was the very last one I couldn't not play along. After much consideration, I decided to go with dandelions for my card - take a look:

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

A Dandelion Trio - I've both a trio of dandelions and a trio of dandelion products on today's card! The first is the beautiful Dandelions 3D embossing folder from the main catalogue. This embossing folder is the makings of a card in itself and I thought the positioning of the dandelion seed heads worked really well for the tag elements of the sketch - just check out the detail:

I addition to the embossed dandelions, Once I'd added my strip of DSP (more on that in a moment) I added a scored line at the edge of the paper to tie it into my embossed design, which you can just see on the photo above. A small and subtle detail, but it really adds to the finished appearance of the card.

Dandy Garden - I decided I needed something to represent the vertical element of the sketch, so decided that some of the dandelion-patterned paper from the Dandy Garden DSP pack in the current mini catalogue woould do the trick. I used a strip of white and Bumblebee for my first card, then I also made a second card and used a strip of the Calypso Coral design. On both cards I used a circle punch to remove a semi-circle so that my strip fit around my embossed dandelion head:

My customes and team know how much I have a love-hate relationship with the dandelion designs in the Dandy Garden DSP pack; I am not keen on the bold designs of proper yellow dandelions in this pack (they realy are just weeds, right?!) but I do love the reverse patterns that depict the more whispy dandelion seed heads that I've used here. Here's a shot of each of the cards together - which one do you prefer?

Dandelion Wishes - Finally, I paired my embossed design and DSP border with a heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Dandelion Wishes' stamp set - the third dandelion element. I also used the dandelion stamp in this set to add some decoration to the inside of my card:

I added a trio of faceted gems to the front to complete my card. So what do you think - did I do the final CAS(E) This Sketch justice? I hope so.

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:

DANDELIONS 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	DANDELION WISHES CLING STAMP SET (£19.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	DANDY GARDEN 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

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

These colours were a bit of a challenge for me originally but I thought they would work well for a birthday card for a teenage boy - and I always need those! I decided to showcase another free Sale-A-Bration stamp set today - take a look:

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

'Approaching Perfection' is another of the stamp sets that you can get for free with a Stampin' Up! order of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration - and you still have another month to take advantage of this promotion! Full of fun birthday sentiments, it is perfect for clean and simple cards. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to create an outer border of multi-coloured candles on my base, then add a stitched square featuring my sentiment to the centre, fussy cutting the 'news flash' so that I could highlight it in red - reminiscent of a red-top tabloid:

I'm also joining in with the current challenge over at Less Is More where they are looking for 'things in a row' - in addition to the rows of candles on my card, I decorated the flap of my envelope to match too:

A detail that might be wasted on the average teenage boy to be fair, but it made me happy! This is a great set for #SimpleStamping - you could easily forgo the stitched diecut. All you need is stamps, ink and paper - #SimpleStamping at its best!

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:

APPROACHING PERFECTION CLING STAMP SET (£0.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Happy Monday everyone! So no snow here over the weekend in the UK, much to the disappointment of the James Juniors, but more than enough rain - with more on the way! So I'm staying away from the flood waters and dreaming of distant shores today with a card inspired by the inspiration photo over at The Card Concept that also uses the sketch over at Fusion:

As much as I love the Fusion inspiration photo, I wanted to use the sketch to create a Clean and Layered card using some rather neglected annual catalogue supplies for The Card Concept - take a look:

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

World of Good - I chose to break out some of the World of Good papers for today's card, which reminded me of the colours and textures in the CC inspiration photo. Having chosen a piece of embossed map paper for my main panel, I then used this as the basis for the colour scheme for the rest of my card. 

Beautiful World - There isn't a huge amount of stamping on today's card, since it's the diecuts and paper that takes centre stage. That said, the sentiment, detail for the base of my globe and the detail inside my card are all courtesy of the 'Beautiful World' stamp set, which is about travel in the traditional sense but also personal journeys, which is where I went with my card today. You can see how the sentiment finishes inside my card below:

World Map Dies - I decided to pick up on the gold embossed detail of my paper by using a golden globe (not of the acting award kind!) as the focal point for my card. I backed this with a vellum panel, as I didn't want to detract from that wonderful map paper. I adhered my globe to it, then added glue to the reverse of the vellum where the globe was to enable me to add this to my card base without seeing any adhesive through the vellum. 

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 this week's card for our new colour challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WORLD OF GOOD SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

BEAUTIFUL WORLD BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)

CINNAMON CIDER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)

EARLY ESPRESSO 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 fifth Sunday of the month so the lovely Laurie is hosting this week and she has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge board for us to work with:

I used Julee's current Mojo Monday sketch as the basis for my card and went top left to bottom right on the diagonal across the board with die cut-embossing-blue for another fruity card for you this week - take a look:

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

Berry Blessings - Today's card is all about the free - free product that is! Both the stamp set and the designer series papers on today's card are part of the Berry Blessings bundle that is one of the free products available with a Stampin' Up! order of £90 or more during Sale-A-Bration. I love the designer papers that feature both the blueberries and raspberries in the bundled stamp set and also the strawberries from the Sweet Strawberry bundle - fruity patterns and also some fabulous checks and plaid. This card is all about the blues and greens, so I chose two plaids that would co-ordinate with my blueberry focal point. They just so happen to also be perfect for Stesha's takeover at TGIF Challenges this week where they are all about the plaid too. I also used the stamp set for the sentiment and a little extra stamping on the inside of my card too:

Stitched Shapes - The layers of Julee's sketch allowed me to fully indulge of my love of stitched shapes: rectangles for the background and then a circle as the base for my fussy cut berries. These are my most used of all my dies and the circles are for sure a staple - I just love the way they elevate a humble shape into something just a little bit more.

It's In The Details - I did a lot of fussy cutting on my berries and leaves, so wanted to add only a few extra small details. The embossing that completes my tic-tac-toe line is both dry embossing using my favourite Subtles folder on the white layer, and a white heat-embossed sentiment on my blue sentiment banner. I also added a simple white twine bow (with my banner that makes my two things from the Just Add Ink list this week) and a single pearl to the centre of my blue flower. You can see those finishing touches better below:

I really love how this card came together. Pacific Point was one of the first ink pads I ever bought when I started stamping, yet it isn't a colour I use often now so it was great to get it out for this card. I love that most of the rest of the product that I used was free - links to the store below if you'd like to snap up this bundle 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 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 were forecast more snow here in the UK this weekend, but yesterday both James Juniors were disappointed to find temperatures had plummeted but it was more like freezing rain than snow. Today they will be hoping for the proper white stuff so that we can build another snowman! If not, we have some cooking to do and we might even get cracking on a knitting project that we've been promising to start for a while. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BERRY BLESSINGS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	SWEET STRAWBERRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	SUBTLE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)
TRIPLE BANNER PUNCH (£21.00)	SNAIL MAIL TWINE COMBO PACK (£6.50)	PACIFIC POINT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

I hope you are all enjoying your weekend so far! I'm popping by with a quick post with my card for this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge:

Jen B's sketch was perfect for me to dig out my Forever & Always bundle again and try out an idea that I had using the free Sale-A-Bration Oh So Ombre paper - take a look:

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

I had seen this card by Mary Deatherage on Pinterest and wanted to explore the idea of diecutting the centre from a piece of Oh So Ombre DSP and flipping it and this sketch provided the perfect opportunity. I decided to use the Forever & Always bundle for my design; the key to getting a good result is to use the Stamparatus, as you need to have both flowers in an exactly opposing position and then the die needs to be placed absolutely centrally, before cutting. You then flip the central panel and add the sentiment.

I stamped a couple of flowers, then masked them to add in some leaves. I cut out my central panel using my scalloped stitched rectangle Stitched So Sweetly Dies before adding a diecut and stamped sentiment, with a few enamel dots to finish. Popping the central panel up on dimensionals also adds a shadow from the black mat below:

Doesn't it create such an interesting effect? Unable to stop there, I also applied the same technique on a Bermuda Bay background using the Friends Are Like Seashells set:

This time I stamped my shells, again with some masking, and sentiment and added some pearls to finish:

I used the free Sale-A-Bration Oh So Ombre papers as my background, but you could equally create your own ombre background with a sponge brayer or blender brushes. These cards are quite addictive - I think the idea could be used for lots of sets! Here's a shot of both cards together - do you have a favourite?

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects for you to pin for easy reference:

And my second card:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FOREVER AND ALWAYS BUNDLE (£43.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FRIENDS ARE LIKE SEASHELLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£24.00)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

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 Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

When I was sorting through my scrap bin the other week for our Speed Stamping Scrap Bin Challenge over at As You See It (you can see those cards in my previous post here), I had a whole bunch of black, red and gold bits and pieces, lots of which were heart shaped, so I thought I would use them for my TicTacToe card today. Here's what I came up with:

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

I went both down the first column and across the third row of our TicTacToe grid with today's card, completing both 'red-free-sentiment' and 'sentiment-embellishment-diecut' I had a red tone-on-tone stamped heart, a row of black diecut hearts (Stitched Be Mine Dies), some leftover strips of foiled DSP and gold glimmer paper and a gold foil diecut from the 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit from before Christmas; I held onto the French 'amour' pieces as I thought they would be perfect for a Valentine's card too. I layered all of my pieces together then added a trio of Real Red resin hearts to compliment my large red heart and add a little additional pop of red. You can see the dimension on my simple layered cluster better below:

No product summary or supply list for today's card as it contains lots of retired bits and pieces. It does feel good to get a few more things used up though! I'm linking today's card up over at Festive Friday as it uses red, gold and foil paper and at The Spot where they are all about getting your heart on this week. 

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

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards I made using the first sketch of the year over at Fab Friday:

It's definitely a keeper, and is a sketch with lots of possibilities - I would definitely suggest you check out the DT cards and those in this week's gallery, as there are some great crafty creations. I considered a few options, but ended up going super simple and making a couple of cards to showcase some of my favourite FREE Sale-A-Bration papers - take a look:

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

I just love the colours and bold floral patterns of the Paper Blooms paper, so decided to make a couple of cards with two of the patterns. A simple Night of Navy offset mat, sentiment in a Stitched Rectangle and added a loop of denim ribbon to each:

Here's the second one that I made where I flipped the colours:

And a shot of both cards 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 '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:

PAPER BLOOMS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	HYDRANGEA HAVEN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£24.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	3/8" (1 CM) DENIM RIBBON (£6.50)