It's the 1st of March: Sale-A-Bration is over for another year and to any fellow Welsh readers out there - Happy St David's Day! No daffodils here though; 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 theme challenge chosen by me:

I thought Easter would be a good theme for our challenge this week given that it's at the end of this month, although it did mean I had to get creative as I haven't purchased any new Easter sets and I don't have the Easter Bunny set in the annual catalogue either. Never fear though - I got creative! This is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Countryside Inn - I noticed that one of the papers in the Countryside Inn pack has a rabbit in the pattern that I thought would make a sweet background for an Easter card and this set the tone for my whole card. I used a Boho Blue card base and balanced it with another of the patterns in the pack.  

Easter Bunny - I used a simple white rabbit punched with the Easter Bunny Punch as my focal point and stamped my greeting onto it directly - for those of you that picked up the 'Heartfelt Hellos' stamp set during Sale-A-Bration, this is where this sentiment comes from. A trimmed ribbon bow was all the decoration my rabbit needed: 

Everyday Details - You may recognise the layout of my card: it's this week's Paper Players layout that I used for my card on Sunday. The rabbit is in place of the hot air balloon, and on today's card instead of a row of clouds, I created a layered border using one of the Everyday Details Dies, adding pearls to the diamond centres for a little added detail.

I'm pleased with how my card finished up; it's also a great way to show how the same layout can be used in different ways. 

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.

Enjoy your day; I am taking a well-earned break today following my final trips to both my local charity shop and waste tip respectively, which signify the end of my loft clearance project this week. Hopefully I will make it back into my craft room and I'll have something to come back and share with you tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Good evening everyone! I am spending the week clearing out my loft (a job long overdue!) so today I'm sharing a quick clean and simple card for a couple of challenges:

AAA Cards would like anything CAS with the optional twist of birthday, so I did both and also went with the CAS on Friday theme of male/boy. I made a fun, cute card for a little boy who is celebrating his birthday - take a look:

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

I created a subtle sweep of Azure Afternoon ink to highlight my sweet hula-hooper that I fussy cut from the Just Kiddin' designer series paper, adding some stamped hearts and stars in the same colour:

A simple sentiment from the 'Hooray For Surprises' set completes my card. Just a few key items needed to create this super cute 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. 

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

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

I love the layers on this week's sketch - perfect to showcase some pretty designer papers. I decided to embrace the pastels and showcase some patterns in the Lighter Than Air pack. This is what I came up with:

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

There are so many pretty papers in the Lighter Than Air pack. I chose stripes for my horizontal panel then a balloon patterned piece for my vertical one. I stamped and diecut a single Pool Party balloon as my focal point and added a banner to it for my sentiment. I added a cloud panel diecut using one of the Basic Borders Dies. I added a couple of extra diecut clouds to give further depth to my scene and a trio of rainbow adhesive dots to finish the front of my card:

I couldn't resist a little extra stamping and some stencilled clouds to decorate the inside too:

So many possibilities with this layout - I can't wait to see what you make with it!

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

- to follow - 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

to follow

Today I'm sharing another card using one of the current Sale-A-Bration free products that I've been using but haven't shared a project that features it in a while - what can I say, so many goodies, so little time! So today it's the turn of the Trusty Toolbox designer series paper - take a look:

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

No Co-ordinating Product? No Problem! - The Trusty Toolbox designer series paper co-ordinates with the Trusty Tools bundle that can be found on page 56 of the mini catalogue, but you don't need the bundle to have a lot of fun with these papers! They are great for creating layered cards with lots of fun patterns and the tools themselves are so easy to fussy cut as I've done on today's card. 

Biggest Wish - I went with a diagonal design to give me the opportunity to fit in lots of lovely tools and paired my design with a birthday greeting from the 'Biggest Wish' stamp set - a great sentiment-only set:

And Another Thing - If you look closely at my card, you will see that none of the tools are shown in their entirety; I actually used a bunch of tools cut from the edges of the paper and used my diagonal to 'hide' their incomplete portions - waste not, want not, right? I also used a few more to decorate the inside of my card:

A few enamel dots were all that I needed to complete this fun masculine card that makes the most of these free papers!

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'm also linking this card up for a second entry over at TGIF Challenges where the theme this week is Sale-A-Bration.

Enjoy your day; it's still raining cats and dogs here in the UK so I will most definitely be spending the day indoors - I'm not sure that the ground can take any more! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

The ladies over at TGIF Challenges have Sale-A-Bration products as the theme for this week so I have a another card for you featuring one of my Sale-A-Bration favourites. My card was inspired by this card by Cindy Timmers. I decided to keep with the layout of Cindy's card and the use of designer series paper, but changed it out for the oh-so-pretty Flight & Airy papers - take a look:

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

Flight and Airy - My card actually uses three of the patterns in the Flight & Airy pack: a busy floral for the base, a panel of washed Boho Blue and some birds diecut from another of the designs. On every card I've made featuring these birds up until now, I've fussy cut the birds, but for today's card I wanted to show that if fussy cutting isn't your thing, these papers are still great! I used my Stylish Shapes Dies to diecut three circles, positioning the birds in the centre each time. 

Thoughtful Moments - I used a sentiment from the 'Thoughtful Moments' hybrid embossing folder across the centre of my card. I inked the embossing folder with Night of Navy ink using my brayer, then embossed and diecut it onto a piece of DSP the same colour as my horizontal band. These embossed and diecut sentiments make such an eye-catching centrepiece: 

Finishing Touches - Some Night of Navy twine, iridescent gems and some leaves punched using my retired leaf punch complete my card. The leaves in particular add lots of dimension and I must say I rather like the end result.

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:

THOUGHTFUL MOMENTS HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (ENGLISH) (36.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (7.00)

GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Michal has asked that we include a large focal sentiment on a bordered panel:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I wanted to showcase more of the free Sale-A-Bration papers before they go away - so I paired them with one of my favourite large sentiment sets for a cheery card - take a look:

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

There is only a small area of designer series paper showing on my card (we are aiming for clean and simple, after all) but the bold and colourful flowers of the Sunny Days paper can still be seen. I paired them with sentiment from the Sending Dies and 'Sending Smiles' co-ordinating stamp set and added a trio of tiny diecut flowers for an added pop of colour to tie in with the paper:

That pattern is my absolute favourite in the Sunny Days pack so I had to show real restraint to use so little of it! If you would like some, you have another 9 days to place an order of £45 or more in order to receive a pack of this paper for FREE.

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; today I'm going out to lunch with hubby to celebrate my 25th wedding anniversary - where did those years go?! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SENDING DIES (ENGLISH) (31.00)

SENDING SMILES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (21.00)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

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 clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I love a good clean and simple challenge and we all have 'forever friends' that we can send this kind of card to, right? I used Linda's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week (rotated through 90 degrees) and grabbed my Just Kiddin' designer series paper and my scissors and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Just Kiddin' - Just Kiddin' is one of my most favourite designer papers - ever! Perfect for cards, children's home decor and scrapbooking, it contains children being children, doing all kinds of things: playing, reading, baking, dressing up, painting and lots more besides. What's more, it is a showcase of diversity: there are children of every colour, wheelchair users, amputees, members of the deaf community and lots more besides - it's so inclusive. I fussy-cut my sweet pair of friends making their heart paper chain directly from one of the pages. This paper appears in the mini catalogue and during February is also available as a free Sale-A-Bration item with a £45 purchase - time to stock up before the end of the month, race you to the shop!!

Country Bouquet - I mounted my fussy cut pair onto an oval that I stamped with a sentiment from the 'Country Bouquet' stamp set that I thought suited these friends perfectly:

Are they not just sooo cute?!  A diagonal panel of the retired Country Floral Lane designer paper with a heart design to pick up on the detail of the image completed my card. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inkspirational for another play along with their 'hearts' theme. If you like this card, check out yesterday's post too that features another sweet pair from the Just Kiddin' paper.

What Is Clean And Simple (CAS) - I love a good CAS card; as a reminder, when we talk about 'clean and simple' over at The Paper Players we mean:

• Have minimal layers and embellishments
• Have plenty of open space
• Are simple and uncluttered

My card definitely fits the brief this week - designer paper, a little fussy cutting and a well-chosen sentiment - and done! 

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 am looking forward to a Sunday roast and a relaxing day today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

JUST KIDDIN' 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)

Today I'm sharing a quick card using the sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches and the inspo list at Festive Friday (I chose pink, white, any shape other than a rectangle (heart and square) and supportive sentiment): 

And here's my card:

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

Just Kiddin' - Just Kiddin' is one of my most favourite designer papers - ever! Perfect for cards, children's home decor and scrapbooking, I fussy-cut my sweet pair of friends whispering to each other and framed them with a pattern from the Delightfully Eclectic designer paper pack.. 

More To Sale-A-Brate - Both the Just Kiddin' and the Delightfully Eclectic designer series papers have been added to the products available as a free Sale-A-Bration item with a £45 purchase during February - the whole collection is shown on the graphic below:

You've Got A Friend - I used one of my favourite sentiments from the 'Silly Goose' stamp set in a diecut heart to complete my card; it just seemed to suit my whispering (or are they gossiping?!) pair and will be perfect for any number of my friends - who doesn't love a good natter, right?!

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 featuring the Just Kiddin' paper for my card over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JUST KIDDIN' 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	DELIGHTFULLY ECLECTIC 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (37.00)
SILLY GOOSE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BERRY BURST A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a 'fill in the blank' challenge chosen by the queen of CAS, Jane:

Since we are post Valentine's Day there will be less pink and hearts moving forward - today my favourite purple is making an appearance! I started my card today with a look through my designer series paper collection to find some plaid paper. Having found this neutral pattern in the Perennial Lavender pack, the rest of my card actually came together quite quickly - take a look at my finished card:

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

Perennial Lavender - I layered my plaid panel with another of the floral patterns in the Perennial Lavender paper pack and interspersed my layers with a small panel of Crumb Cake, embossed with the Timeworn Type 3D embossing folder, having distressed the edges with my scissors to add to the vintage feel.  

Perennial Postage - My final layer was diecut with one of the Perennial Postage dies, onto which I stamped a sentiment from the co-ordinating stamp set in Gorgeous Grape to pick up the colour in the flowers. I also wrapped my panel with a piece of green ribbon, that I tied with a linen thread bow:

Paper Butterfly Accent - I inked one of the diecut butterflies from the Paper Butterfly Accents pack with a variety of blue and purple inks before adding to the corner of my sentiment panel. These diecut butterflies are so useful for adding a final touch of detail to a project, whether in their original, uncoloured state or inked in the colours of your choice to coordinate. A trio of purple shimmer gems were the final ingredient to complete my card - and my recipe! 

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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PERENNIAL POSTAGE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	PERENNIAL LAVENDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	PAPER BUTTERFLY ACCENTS (7.50)	PURPLE FINE SHIMMER GEMS (7.50)	TIMEWORN TYPE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	LOST LAGOON ¼" (6.4 MM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.50)
LINEN THREAD (4.75)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

Happy Valentine's lovely readers! It seems only right that I should share a Valentine's card today; actually I made this card to send to the DH to celebrate our wedding anniversary, which is next week, but it would work for either. I made my card with a couple of challenges in mind:

Inkspirational have a word prompt of 'heart' and the theme over at Inspire.Create is 'All About Love'. I went for a relatively clean and simple card with lots of fun details that focuses on the sentiment - take a look:

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

The sentiment comes from the 'Just My Type' stamp set and I found a tiny vintage key trinket in my embellishment stash that I thought paired with it perfectly. A Bee Builder Punch heart and a selection of designer paper snippets, diecuts and gems complete my card:

Pretty yet not overly feminine - I really like the finished result and hope that the Hubby will too. 

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

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

I have enjoyed a pleasant Valentine's dinner with the youngest of the James Juniors, catching up on the events of the day, the highlight of which was a hockey 2nd XI win, which is always worth celebrating! I'll be back on Friday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JUST MY TYPE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	SWEET SORBET A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)
STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (26.00)	EVERYDAY DETAILS DIES (32.00)	BEE BUILDER PUNCH (21.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)