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 my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I could think of so many ways to use this sketch! I decided to challenge my self to retain the 'any shape' oval element, since I don't often use ovals on my projects and work with a new-to-me stamp set too - take a look:

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

Masculine Classic Garage - The Classic Garage Suite in the Spring-Summer catalogue is perfect for projects to celebrate the men in your life: cars, keys, tools, perfect for those who love motors or anyone with aspirations to be a petrol-head. The designer series papers include some fabulous bright colours too and I used them to influence the colour scheme of my card, both in the papers that I used for my layers and the bold blocks of colour that feature my sentiment and focal point image.

Geared Up - I chose the classic car from the 'Geared Up Garage' stamp set as my focal image, stamped in black onto Tranquil Tide cardstock. I stamped it again onto vellum and fussy cut the windows before gluing to my car and covering them with a layer of fine tip glue for added shine. I'm not big into cars and I'm not sure what car type this is, however it does remind me of old-fashioned cars in the 1970s and I remember my Dad driving a car that was turquoise green in colour at the time and since this will be his Father's Day card I think he will appreciate the similarity and it is sure to evoke a few memories. I used another of the stamps from the set for the sentiment on the inside too:

Keys To The Car - Or key, to be precise! The silver metal keys and spanners that make up the Classic Garage Metal Elements are perfect for tooling up cards and packages and I couldn't resist adding one with a little bow of black twine to finish off 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:

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

Enjoy your day; we have a family sport-free day today so will be making the most of it before the Juniors return to school tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Geared Up Garage Cling Bundle (£45.75)	Classic Garage 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Classic Garage Metal Elements (£6.50)	Classic Garage A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine (£2.75)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)

It's Friday and almost time for the weekend! My week has been a fun one with the children home for a change and a slightly less frantic pace than usual, which is nice. I haven't had much time to get in my craft room but did manage to create a couple of quick cards yesterday whilst simultaneously coaching Rebecca through her Music Theory in readiness for her Grade 4 exam in a couple of week's time. Today I'm sharing one of those cards with a technique I've been wanting to have a go at that is perfect for the current challenge over at StampsInkPaper who, like us over at The Paper Players for our clean and simple challenge, also chose to have 'monochromatic' as their theme this week:

Having watched this video by the uber-talented Jennifer McGuire a few weeks ago, I was keen to have a go at a card using the same technique and the border die from the Wonderful Floral Framelit Dies set. This is what I came up with:

I simply layered three of the Wonderful Floral border diecut pieces, one each in Granny Apple Green, Call Me Clover and Shaded Spruce front the back to the front, along the left hand vertical edge of my card, overlapping each one a fraction to the left of its predecessor. This die is often used with the leaf pattern along the outer edge, but here I laid the pieces with the leaf shape to the centre of my card so that the layered leaves would really stand out against my white card base. You can really see the effect of the overlaying of the diecuts in this photo here:

It also allowed me to position my gold heat-embossed sentiment along the straight edge. This actually looks shinier in real life, although looking at the photograph I think that heat embossing in white might have been a better idea. Next time, perhaps!

And that's all there is to it! 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 effect and am definitely going to revisit my collection of dies to see what other cards I can create using this technique. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Wonderful Floral Framelits Dies (£32.00)	Wonderful Romance Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Call Me Clover A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)

Today I have a card for the current challenge over at As you See It, where the team are asking us to complete the sentence 'When I think simple, I think of...':

Now today's post feels a little bit of a cheat as far as the challenge is concerned, however hear me out. My regular readers will know what a fan I am of Stampin' Up!'s kits and for me, 'When I think of SIMPLE, I think of KITS' every time! Especially all-inclusive kits, with everything in the box ready to go, including instructions and layouts - no thinking required! So today I'm sharing with you one of the latest all-inclusive kit offering from the annual catalogue - the Notes of Kindness Card Kit and one of my current 'go to' kits.

Here is an example of one of each the finished cards from the set:

And here's an image that shows all of the cards that can be made with this kit:

Here's the low-down on the Notes of Kindness Card Kit and why I think they are perfect for just about anyone and everyone:

All Inclusive - The Notes of Kindness Card Kit kit is one that contains everything you need to create 20 cards, 5 each of 4 designs: card bases, co-ordinating envelopes, die cut images and shapes, a Stampin' Spot ink pad, set of 6 photopolymer stamps and an acrylic block, along with a range of accessories and embellishments. Simply add your choice of adhesive and you are good to go. 

Great Value For Money - At £33.00, this kit offers exceptional value for money - where else could you buy 20 handcrafted greetings cards at £1.65 each and have a stamp set, ink spot, block and a range of embellishments left over to create even more things with too? Not to mention the creative fun you will have putting them together along the way! And if you like it, refill kits of the consumable elements are available so you can make even more for less too.

The Perfect Gift -  Whether young or old, experienced crafter or new to crafting, this kit is perfect for you. Follow the instructions included or unleash your own creativity and do your own thing - and if you're trying to buy for 'the person who has everything' - I bet they don't have one if these! The kit comes in a lovely recyclable gift box too, so all you need is some ribbon and a tag and you are done.

Here is a reminder of this fantastic kit if you are getting organised and want to pin it 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. 

Like all of the kits in the Stampin' Up! catalogue, the Notes of Kindness Card Kit is the perfect way to bring your creativity to life like a pro MADE SIMPLE - with everything except glue included. So I hope the ladies over at AYSI will forgive me this indulgence of creating a kit card for this week's challenge - for me a kit is escapism in a box!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Notes Of Kindness Card Kit (£33.00)

Notes Of Kindness Card Kit Refill (£20.00)

It's half-term here in the UK this week so with both James Juniors at home I didn't manage a post yesterday, but I'm back for a quick one today and I'm sharing a card inspired by both the photo inspiration and sketch over at Fusion that also works for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week:

I love that inspiration photo and took my cue from the pink roses and the tea cup. My card is all about the gorgeous Petal Promenade DSP, which is the perfect background for my lightly watercoloured  'Tea Together tea cup - take a look:

I love this set, especially with the Tea Time Framelits that are one of the Sale-A-Bration free items; no need for fussy cutting, one roll through the Big Shot and they pop right out - so easy. I also added a little stamped/punched detail to the square that my cup sits on; I wasn't sure about it initially, but I think it breaks up the bold paper and unifies the various elements of the design.

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Tea Together Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Tea Time Framelits Dies (£0.00)	Petal Promenade Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Detailed Trio Punch (£19.00)	Detailed With Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)

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

Remember: this is clean and simple week. What do we mean by 'clean and simple' ? Create a card that has:

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, also known as 'white space'
• Is simple and uncluttered

I chose one of my favourite colours - Melon Mambo - to work with this week. I combined with black and white for a simple monochromatic design:

Today's card is super simple: all of the stamping is in black (except for the pop of pink on the co-ordinating envelope), with some background detail on my card base and a narrow scalloped border to edge my central panel. A layered banner to showcase my sentiment, along with a twine bow and glitter dot accents complete my card. By keeping this card monochrome, it is really easy to recreate and would work in lots of other colours 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 have a hockey match but otherwise will be taking it easy as it's the start of our half-term break this week - yay! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Dandelion Wishes Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Banner Triple Punch (£22.00)	Decorative Ribbon Border Punch (£15.00)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine (£2.75)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)

Yesterday saw the release of the second round of products as part of the current Sale-A-Bration promotion (you can read all about it here) so today seems a good day to share a card that is perfect for the current challenge over at Inspire.Create where it's all about Sale-A-Bration:

There are so many lovely Sale-A-Bration items to choose from but as a chicken owner one of my personal favourites is Home To Roost:

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

Home To Roost - Everyone loves a chicken stamp and the 'Home To Roost' stamp set has some great sentiments and fonts and some very useful grasses too, so is definitely worth a look. He's really easy to fussy cut too.

A New Technique - My card today is inspired by one of the samples on page 11 of the Sale-A-Bration catalogue; I was intrigued to see that the chicken and background on the green card was stamped onto Wood Textures Designer Series Paper and coloured with watercolour pencils, something I'd not tried before so I thought I'd give it a go. I really like the finished effect of colour on wood texture and this is definitely something I'll try again. 

Did You Know? -  Today's card is a great time to point out something else that is a feature both of the Sale-A-Bration leaflet and the Stampin' Up! seasonal and annual catalogues that you may not have noticed. Where you see a highlighted project, in addition to listing the products used to make the sample individually, there is also a bundle item code that includes everything that you can order with just one item number - handy, right? You can see it highlighted on the image below:

If you like today's card, the good news is if you buy everything in the bundle - which I also used on my card today - you'll qualify for the free Sale-A-Bration 'Home to Roost' stamp set for free - bonus!

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. 

One last thing: you may be wondering why the envelope featured with my card doesn't feature a chicken but a flower; I had a whole pile of projects ready for photographing and didn't realise I hadn't swapped out the envelope, but didn't realise until the time of writing - so I'm leaving this happy accident as I don't have time to retake!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home To Roost Cards (£59.75)	Home To Roost Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)	Nature's Poem A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Watercolor Pencils (£15.00)	3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim (£6.50)	Tin Tile Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Stampin' Dimensionals (£3.75)	Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets (£8.25)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! No hearts here today! The ladies over at Less Is More are celebrating the challenge's 8th birthday (wowsers!) and riding high on the delight at having been chosen as last month's LIM winner (you can see that card here if you missed it) I am blogging my entry for the current challenge which is a colour one:

 Navy and yellow is a classic colour combination for me so I went for something bright and CAS that is all about #SimpleStamping to really let the colours shine - take a look:

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

Just Take Two - Whilst I deliberated for ages on how I was going to use these two colours, the card I settled on will take you no time at all to recreate: just two ink pads, some yellow and white cardstock and a punch. You can add a yellow pearl before the sentiment if you really want to go all out!!

Vibrant Vases - My card features the Vibrant Vases stamp set, with each of the elements stamped in Night of Navy with the exception of the flower petals, which were stamped in Daffodil Delight. I stamped the vase on a spare piece of whisper white cardstock and punched it out using the Vases Builder Punch but you could make it even simpler by stamping the vase directly onto the cardfront and dispense with the punch altogether, although I like this added detail. I popped my cardfront up onto a Daffodil Delight cardbase for an added pop of yellow.

Don't Forget the Inside - I also stamped the inside with a sentiment and a one layer vase and flower combo. You don't need any other supplies for this and given how quick the front is to create, you can easily afford a minute more to add this final finishing detail.

Another great example of #SimpleStamping at its best! Again, this would work in lots of other colourways too. A card that could be made with no more than 5 products - 6 if you include the punch, which if you buy along with the stamp set in a bundle you can save 10%.

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:

Varied Vases Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Vases Builder Punch (£17.00)	Varied Vases Photopolymer Bundle (£36.75)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (£5.50)

It's Wednesday and finally I feel like I'm turning a corner and kicking my cold into touch! Onwards and upwards! Today I'm sharing a card for the current colour challenge over at Fab Friday where they have this lovely colour palette that really appealed to me:

I've also been carrying this sketch around in my head for a while (I think it's an old CAS(E) This Sketch layout) which seemed perfect to highlight the floral boughs in one of my new stamp sets - take a look:

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

Beauty Abounds - The 'Beauty Abounds' stamp set is bundled with the Butterfly Beauty Thinlits Dies; these are so beautiful, they kind of steal the show as far as this bundle is concerned so I wanted to make a card that deliberately highlights this stamp set, which has so much going for it in its own right. Along with a couple of butterflies (you can see one of them that I used to decorate the inside of my card below), there is this fabulous floral bough that can be stamped on its own or stamped and coloured as I've done on my card here, using a combination of my Stampin' Write Markers and Stampin' Blends in each of the challenge colours, along with some useful background stamps: two sets of bokeh dots and a splatter-type stamp, which I used to add some faux-texture and a hint of Blushing Bride colour to my card base. 

It's A Wrap - I wanted to accentuate the challenge colours and my graphic design so used lots of layers on my card and I could have just left my card with the floral panels as the main focus. I wanted to add the first part of the sentiment to the front of my card, but didn't want to obscure the floral detail. The solution? I stamped my sentiment and heat embossed my sentiment in black on vellum and created a wrap so that it was clearly visible, without detracting from the detail of my floral panels. This is one of my favourite ways to use vellum on a card and since this fits the current challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper I'm going to link up there too.

Thank You For Being A Friend - The other reason I love this stamp set is for the wonderful friendship-themed sentiments that come with it (yes, I hope now you're reading this you are humming the classic Andrew Gold theme tune to The Golden Girls too!) What starts on the front of my card on the vellum band, completes on the inside:

Isn't that just the loveliest sentiment? Perfect for a 'just because' card for your bestie! There are a few other great sentiments in this set too, along with a few generic thanks/hello type greetings that work for other types of 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. 

It's a lovely sunny day here in the UK so I'm looking forward to going to watch the youngest of the James Juniors play in his hockey match this afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Beauty Abounds Cling Stamp Set (£21.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Grapefruit Grove A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Lovely Lipstick Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers (£27.50)
Vellum A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenges over at As You See It and Just Add Ink:

I also decided to combine it with this month's #SimpleStamping challenge set by Stampin' Up!, which was to create a birthday card with nothing more than stamps, ink, paper and a piece of DSP. So first up, here's my #SimpleStamping card: 

This really took just a minute to make - I even made a video to show you how I did it, and I haven't made one of those in ages! Here you go:

Beautiful You is a great set if you're starting out: 3 main images and a good variety of sentiments that work for birthdays, congratulations, a pick-me-up and more besides, this is a set that offers lots of creative possibilities. The images can be inked or coloured using Blends or watercolour pencils, or you can make your choice of DSP go further by paper-piecing the dress and accessories on each of the images.

My card for for As You See It and Just Add Ink was where I started out, pairing back to make my #SimpleStamping card, but I'm showing it as the second card in my post because it's a great example of how once you've mastered the art of a basic card, a few simple accessories and a little fussy cutting can easily step things up if you want to get more adventurous:

The addition of some striped ribbon and a few irridescent sequins, along with fussy cutting the main image and popping it up on dimensionals, adds a further layer of sophistication to this otherwise clean and simple birthday card. To really get the most from my supplies, I also stamped and coloured my envelope and the inside of my card:

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

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:

Beautiful You Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£26.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Ivory Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter (£4.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Brights 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Poppy Parade 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Mini Striped Ribbon (£7.50)	Metallics Sequin Assortment (£4.75)

I have a class today and am still full up with cold so have a feeling this is going to be a long week! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches that also uses the colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches: 

I love this week's FMS sketch from Jen Brum, which is all the more surprising given her phobia of circles! The FMS team have done a fabulous job with their creations this week and I couldn't resist having a go too, although what to do with those circles? I settled for puzzle pieces - take a look:

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

A Fun Sketch - So Jen Brum's sketch comprises lots of circles, something she normally avoids; in visiting the blog of Jen Mitchell, one of the other FMS designers, I discovered there was a word for someone who has a fear of circles, it's called trypophobia. So I wondered if there was also a word for a fear of puzzles too and there is - logiphobia. Who knew?! So if you have it, you should probably look away now!! 

Love You To Pieces - I used a Powder Pink card base and stamped outline jigsaw pieces from the 'Love You to Pieces' stamp set in Grey Granite and Lovely Lipstick down the outer edge of my panel, adding in a few clusters of pink hearts to mimic the varying sizes of the images as per the sketch. There are some great sentiments in this set - I used one of my favourites on the inside:

Coloured Embossing - I used two diecut jigsaw pieces for my sentiment and used Lovely Lipstick embossing powder on one and stamped the other in Grey Granite and heat embossed that with clear powder for a similar effect. I love the glossy texture and added detail this gives - it really makes these sentiment pieces stand out from the background.

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:

Love You To Pieces Clear-Mount Bundle (£36.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Emboss Powder (£23.25)	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Gray Granite Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)