Today I'm sharing a card that packs a colourful punch yet uses only 5 products and was really quick to make. I used the current layout over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

My card features 3 products from the Tropical Oasis suite in the Spring-Summer mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Tropical Oasis - Today's card really is super simple. It all started with a piece of the Tropical Oasis designer series paper. With lush foliage and colourful tropical flowers, this pretty paper really pops against the Terracotta Tile card base. 

Memories & More - For my sentiment, I chose a Memories & More card that co-ordinated with the DSP and fussy cut it to size to be in proportion with my card. These cards are so useful for quick cards as well as memory keeping. 

Coastal Weave Texture - I added texture to my card base using my Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder which is also part of the Tropical Oasis Suite. 

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:

Tropical Oasis Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Tropical Oasis Memories & More Card Pack (£10.25)

Coastal Weave 3D Embossing Folder (£8.25)

Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Terracotta Tile A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

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

Ann's colours this week are perfect for Valentine's however armed with the 'blank slate' over at InspireCreate this week I decided to use a little of something old with a little of something new to create my card today - take a look:

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

Power of Hope - So first to my something new! The pagoda and sentiment on today's card are from one of the free Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, called 'Power of Hope'. This set has some lovely oriental images, including a chinese lantern and geisha girl. I used the pagoda and one of the uplifting sentiments in the set.

Embossed Stone - The Power of Hope stamp set is combined with the Stone 3D embossing folder as one of the bundles of items that you can receive free with a £90 (as opposed to £45) Sale-A-Bration purchase. I used it emboss my card base and create a textured frame for my stamped area although I think it will prove useful on other projects too.

Seasonal Layers - For my 'something old', I used my perennial favourite, the Seasonal Layers Thinlits to add a diecut cherry blossom branch to the front of my card. I added colour to the centres of the flowers using my Stampin' Blends markers and the co-ordinating Colourful Seasons stamp set, which I also used to add a touch of decoration to the inside of my card:

Whilst I haven't used them for a while, this stamp set and dies are one of the most used bundles in my collection. They really are so useful on so many projects, whatever the season. As for the Japan-influenced Power of Hope bundle, whilst I wouldn't ordinarily choose this style of stamp set, it's different to anything else I own and will I'm sure have its uses. Bottom line is it was free, so I'm most certainly not complaining! 

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; one of the James Juniors is off to a paintballing party today (rather him than me!). The rest of us will be battoning down the hatches and staying indoors away from the stormy winds that are expected in the UK today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project (or two!). Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Power Of Hope Bundle (£0.00)	Seasonal Layers Dies (£31.00)	Colorful Seasons Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Real Red Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)	Flirty Flamingo Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I have some exciting news - the TicTacToe Challenge is being refreshed and relaunched and I am going to be one of the new designers! This is a fun weekly challenge that features a different TicTacToe board each week. There are two teams, team X and Team O, and each team will host alternate weeks with one of the team members being the featured designer each week. I will be part of Team X and we will be posting alternate weeks, with the intention to play along in between when my Team O teamies are hosting. 

It's the turn of Team X to kick things off this week and the lovely Shannon Jamarillo is our featured designer with a spring-inspired board to get things rolling. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the current colour palette over at Fab Friday and took the top left to bottom right diagonal of flower-spring-twine to create a long and narrow card using some of the items I received free with the current Sale-A-Bration promotion - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Blooms - Thoughtful Blooms is one of those stamp sets that is great to have on hand for quick and easy cards and actually offers lots of creative options if florals are your thing; it also has a few useful sentiments too. You can easily build trailing flowers as I have or create single stemmed blooms and add leaves and decoration as desired. It's a great set for a beginner stamper as it's really easy to build patterns with and there is also the opportunity for a little two-step stamping of both petals and leaves, which is an easy way to add extra detail. I used this technique for my punched blooms, stamping first with the solid stamp in Melon mambo (I stamped off first to achieve a lighter pink) and then I then over-stamped with the petal outline stamp in Merry Merlot. I really like this colour combination together and isn't one I would have ordinarily tried, so thank you to the team at Fab Friday for encouraging me to change things up here! I added Melon Mambo glittered enamel dots to the centre of my flowers, because, well, why not? I love these for a quick pop of sparkle:

Another Freebie Too - The Small Bloom Punch is another Sale-A-Bration freebie and co-ordinates perfectly with those sweet little blooms, and makes it oh-so-easy to cut out those images and create a little extra dimension on your card. 

A Question of Colour - So to finish today, I thought I would ask for your views on a very important question! I originally planned to work with the bottom row of the tictactoe board, punch-blue-twine, and thought I had achieved this perfectly until I had a visit from one of the James Juniors as I had photographed and was admiring today's creation, who declared I had of course failed in my quest - Coastal Cabana and Bermuda Bay could most definitely NOT be considered blue, they were of course green! A lengthy debate ensued about where do shades of aqua or turquoise sit on the colour spectrum, with us all agreeing to disagree; so, what do you think - Bermuda Bay, blue or green? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to hear your thoughts!

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

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

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 have an epic ever-growing to-do list so need to tick off some chores but will hopefully get to achieve some crafty things too and I might even make it to choir tonight - I definitely need the practice! I'll be back tomorrow in fine voice and with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Thoughtful Blooms Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)	Small Bloom Punch (£0.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)
Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Merry Merlot Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)

I'm here today with a quick post to let you know about a new co-ordination product release that launches today and runs until the 31st March whilst stocks last. There is a collection of exclusive products that co-ordinate with Sale-A-Bration and the January-June mini catalogue items. Check them out:

One other thing to note is that Stampin' Up! has confirmed that the Nature's Thoughts Dies that co-ordinate with the Positive Thoughts stamp set and the Special Day Dies that co-ordinate with the Special Someone stamp set will both be carrying over into the new annual catalogue so will be available again to purchase from 4th June. 

There is no limit on how many items you can order, however they are only available for a limited time and whilst supplies last. Last year's co-ordination products sold out really quickly with some popular dies selling out within days, so don't leave it too long to get your hands on yours!

 My personal favourites are the Ladybugs Dies and the Happy Birrthday Dies, along with the Pleased as Punch paper - I can't resist a nice paper, especially one where you can punch out all the patterns!

You can find links to these items and the products they co-ordinate with in the online store are below - any questions, do get in touch. Happy shopping!

Nature's Thoughts Dies (£27.00)	Positive Thoughts Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)
Special Day Dies (£27.00)	Special Someone Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)
Ladybugs Dies (£27.00)	Little Ladybug Host Cling Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)
Sending Flowers Dies (£25.00)	Sending You Thoughts Cling Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)
Birthday Dies (£25.00)	Happy Birthday To You Cling Stamp Set (English) (£0.00)

Pleased As Punch Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Small Bloom Punch (£0.00)

Heart Punch Pack (£32.00)

Umbrella Builder Punch (£17.00)

Tulip Builder Punch (£17.00)

I'm here with my second card of the day - and on a class day too, go me! And it's only Monday - let's hope that this is a sign of a productive week! This card is one of the ones that we made in my technique class this morning featuring the Painted Poppies bundle and I used this week's colours over The Color Throwdown as my inspiration:

This is the card I came up with: 

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

Painted Poppies and Peaceful Moments - All of our class cards featured the Peaceful Poppies stamps and co-ordinating Painted Labels Dies. Here the poppies were simply coloured using Real Red ink and the watercolour 'splodge' stamp in the set, with a little detailing added with a marker and then diecut. The leaves were stamped in black and some tiny splodges added in Smoky Slate before fussy cutting by hand. We paired it with a sentiment of our choice from the 'Peaceful Moments' set - I chose this one, but everyone in my class used the 'With Deepest Sympathy as they thought this card wold work well as a sympathy card.  

Sweetly Stitched - I used the largest of the Stitched So Sweetly rectangular dies as the mat on my card; these are on page 20 of the Spring-Summer mini catalogue and worth a look if you've passed over them as they are easy to miss, especially if the co-ordinating stamp set is one that doesn't appeal. You're welcome ;-) 

A Pattern Party - I sponged some darker Basic Grey onto my scalloped rectangle piece using one of the Pattern Party masks, graduating the colour outwards from the corner, to add interest and tie in with my flowers. I added some clear sequins and some black pearls (regular ones coloured with a black marker) to the centre of my flowers to finish.

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. 

This was the middle card from my class today and it's fair to say the ladies loved it. I'll share the others another time; in the meantime, if you live in or around Northampton and would like to attend a class, do get in touch - we would love you to join us! The next one features the 'Peaceful Moments' bundle and will be held on Monday 9th March - the day after my residential weekend craft retreat!

Enjoy your evening; I have to go and start on my ironing pile now - I can't put it off any longer! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Painted Poppies Bundle (£48.50)	Peaceful Moments Cling Stamp Set (English) (£20.00)	Stitched So Sweetly Dies (£30.00)	Pattern Party Decorative Masks (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Real Red Dark Stampin' Blends (£4.25)
Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Basic Black Dark Stampin' Blends (£4.25)	Peaceful Poppies Sequins (£6.50)

I had a little extra time at the weekend and managed to  squeeze in (or out!) a couple of extra cards that I've had buzzing around my head! The first one uses this week's sketch by Jen T over at Freshly Made Sketches which I adapted by using a heart shape instead of a circle to make a fun shaker card that is also inspired in colours and theme by this week's photo inspiration over at Inspired By and fits with the current Valentine's challenge at TGIF too:

My fellow Paper Player teamies the lovely LeAnne and Claire both design on the Inspired By team with Laurel Seabrook and whilst I follow these lovely ladies and the Inspired by blog, it's the first time I've managed to play along - yay! Here is my clean and graphic modern Valentine's: 

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

I made the shaker window aperture using the largest of the Stitched Be Mine Dies with some retired black and white heart-patterned paper to contrast with my bright Melon Mambo background. The shaker elements are a combination of hearts from another of the dies in the same die set, along with white, black and gold sequins and a few retired Melon Mambo heart-shaped sequins. I finished my card with an 'XOXO' diecut from the retired Circle Thinlit Card Die set in sparkly gold glimmer paper.

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 love Jen's sketch and will definitely use this again as a circle - a super versatile layout!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back shortly with one of the cards from today's class. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Stitched Be Mine Dies (£33.00)	Window Sheets (£4.75)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Flirty Flamingo A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)
Gold Glimmer Paper (£4.75)	Foam Adhesive Strips (£7.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my sweet friend Claire to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for you to work with:

It's the first Sunday in February and the month of Valentine's so love is definitely in the air! I combined our challenge this week with the colour palette over at Global Design Project and Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and am linking up with Just Us Girls where they are looking for bows. All of these elements came together for my love-filled card - take a look:

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

From My Heart - My card today features three of the patterns in the From The Heart specialty designer series paper. With playful patterns featuring red and pink foil accents on some designs, these papers are perfect for Valentine's Day cards and packaging. I used a pink and red random heart design for my largest panel and layered two of the foiled heart designs for the uppermost layer and focal point of my card. Check out the foil effect - so pretty:

Two Hearts Are Better Than One - I loved the layering of Julee's sketch and decided it would be a great way to showcase my favourite foiled heart pattern in the paper pack. I layered it on a pink heart from another of the designs, both of which I punched out using the punches in the Heart Punch pack: one has straight edges and the other scalloped and they nest together beautifully. I love it when you can punch shapes out of paper this easily - it makes card making a breeze! 

Add A Bow - I finished my card with a fancy glossy red satin ribbon bow. The foil detailing and the faceted gems make this card something special and a luxurious bow seemed like the perfect way 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; I will be crafting and getting ready for my technique class tomorrow and might even sneak in a movie this afternoon. To my fellow PP teamies and anyone else stateside who is watching the Super Bowl and hosting or attending a Super Bowl party - enjoy!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

From My Heart Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Heartfelt Bundle (English) (£43.00)	Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Double-Stitched Satin Ribbon (£7.00)	From My Heart Faceted Gems (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Flirty Flamingo 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 the often-dreaded speed challenge:

Yes - create a card in under 10 minutes, this time using shades of brown! I would usually say that brown is quite an uninspiring starting point for me, however I actually had a couple of ideas right off the bat for a change! I worked up one of those and am quite pleased with the results - take a look:

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

A Kennel of Dogs - Today's card features a kennel of dogs, brown dogs to be precise, courtesy of some Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Early Espresso cardstock and my Dog Builder Punch. As an aside, did you know that there are a number of collective nouns for dogs and in addition to the more commonly used 'pack', you can also refer to a group as a 'kennel of dogs'. I much prefer the latter when it concerns domestic pups so decided to go with that as my dogs are certainly not at all wolf-like, which is what always comes to my mind when I think of a pack! I simply punched a whole bunch of dog shapes and then positioned them somewhat randomly on my card to create a pattern, allowing some to overhang the edges before trimming to size.

Puppies and Pawprints - The sentiment and pawprints on the heart come from the 'Happy Tails' stamp set and are perfect if you need one of those tricky cards to send to someone mourning the loss of their four-legged friend. I stamped mine onto Whisper White and used a heart framelit from the retired Sweet and Sassy Framelits set to cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals; the sentiment does just about fit into the straight-edged heart punch from the new heart punch pack in the Spring Mini catalogue, but is a little more snug. Using the punch would save some time too but I knew the sentiment would fit the framelit and I had mine ready to go!

I Feel The Need For Speed - So the key to a speed stamping challenge has to be simplicity, right? My card has very little stamping, so how long did it take to complete? It actually took me 9 minutes and 8 seconds on the first attempt, because the time was taken up arranging my punched dog shapes and glueing them in place with Tombo. Once complete, I liked the card so much I decided to punch a bunch more dog shapes and used the same layout to create another two identical cards, and did both in less total time than it took me to make the first one! If I had used Snail adhesive, I probably could have saved even more time. So I challenge you - if you CASE my card, do let me know how long it takes you to complete - it is an easy one for under 10 minutes once you have the layout! I'm going to make a few more using different colours and using the Cat Punch.

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. 

Before you put your creative thinking caps on, why not check out the blogs of the other As You See It team members:

Amy Jasper

Heather Cooper

Jan Clothier

Jane Knudsen

LeAnne Pugliese

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 #AYSI218 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.
• Don't forget to tell us how long it took to create your speed-stamped creation!

We look forward to seeing your creations in the AYSI gallery.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Dog Builder Punch (£17.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Happy Tails Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Heart Punch Pack (£32.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

The week is running away with me again - I can't believe it's Thursday already and I'm finally managing a blog post! Today I'm sharing a card that I made for a few challenges in an attempt to keep my 2020 Christmas cardmaking on track:

Armed with the codeword of 'Frosty' from the current challenge over at Addicted to CAS, along with the snowflakes, trees and pink sky in the inspiration photo at Hand Stamped Sentiments, I set to work and this is what I came up with:

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

This was another relatively quick and easy card to make: I used a 2 1/4" circle punch to make a mask and then sponged a combination of Melon Mambo and Blueberry Bushel inks on a Whisper White base to create my sky. I stamped a collection of trees from Rooted in Nature in Memento Black onto Whisper White and cut them out with my co-ordinating Nature's Roots Dies and popped them up on dimensionals in front of the sky. I added snow to the branches of my trees with a chalk marker then added a liberal application of glitter to the snowy branches and a few sequins to complete my frosty look:

How pretty is this? Given the crystalline appearance of all that glittery and frosty snow, I am also linking up with CASology for my take on the word 'Crystal'. I then stamped my sentiment (from the retired SU! stamp set 'Wonderland') in black onto vellum and wrapped this around the front of my card to finish. I do find it difficult to think about Christmas amongst all of the hearts and flowers that are prevalent at this time of year, so was grateful to the above challenges for some festive 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; I am without electricity today, which since it was planned is no bad thing; I've enough laptop battery to write this post and access to a wifi hotspot, and no means to do any washing, ironing, cooking or vacuuming  - an afternoon of crafting it is then!! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Rooted In Nature Cling-Mount Stamp Set (£39.00)	Nature's Roots Dies (£36.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Vellum A4 Cardstock (£9.25)	Snowflake Sequins (£5.50)	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (£5.50)

I've got a super-quick post this evening to share a card I made with Lee Ann's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that I am hopefully just going to squeeze my entry in for:

The minute I saw the angle in Lee Ann's sketch I knew that it would be perfect for my first use of one of my favourite sets in the Spring mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Music From The Heart is the set inspired by Million Sales Achiever Dawn Olchefske and as someone who has a family of musicians of one form or another this was a set I've wanted for a long time! Today's card is super-simple, stamped in black on Whisper White to look like sheet music with a black card base, then the piano coloured with a black Stampin' Blends combo and just two pops of red from the paper-pieced red foil heart-shaped lid of the piano and a teeny-tiny red foil punched heart to adorn my sentiment. A little bit of overhang from the sentiment label and the stitched circle for interest, and that's that. Quick to create and fortunately quick to blog as time is of the essence today!

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Music From The Heart Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)
Basic Black Combo Pack Stampin' Blends (£8.50)