Public service announcements first today - bear with me, there will be a creative post below for those that are here for the pretty stuff!

Counting down now - only 1 day to go until the new 2017-18 Annual Stampin' Up! catalogue launches!

I have sent out copies to everyone on my catalogue mailing list who has purchased from me in the last 6 months - if you're not on this list but would like to receive one, then do give me a call on 07773 421446 or drop me an email and I will pop one in the post to you today.

This also means the following: 

Today is the last day that you can order from the 2016-17 Stampin' Up! catalogue - this includes any of the 'Bundle and Save 10%' bundles. Even though many of the products they contain are being carried over to the new annual catalogue, they will not be available as a discounted bundle.

Today is the last day that you can order from the 2017 Spring-Summer Seasonal Stampin' Up! catalogue - a number of the products in this brochure are being carried over to the new annual catalogue, however we willbe saying goodbye to many items. There are still a number of stamp sets and accessories available at a discount on the Retiring List here - today is your last chance to grab a bargain!  they will not be available as a discounted bundle.

Today is also the final day to purchase either of the special Eastern Palace Suite bundles. You can read more about these fabulous bundles in my blog post here which also contains the link to the store should you wish to purchase either bundle. Whilst all of the items contained in each bundle will be available to purchase individually once the new annual catalogue launches, the bundles along with the free gifts won't. So if you have been swept up in the Eastern Palace craze, get yours today!

If you are placing an order online today, don't forget to use this month's online hostess code DXFJQZPN to receive a little thank you from me. This code will close this afternoon at 2pm, so be sure to have placed your orders online before this to benefit. If you are local to me and wish to save on postage, please ensure you have your order to me by midday to be included on this order.

That's the announcements and reminders done - now for the pretty! Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Less Is More:

I haven't managed to play along with the lovely ladies over at LIM for a little while but having been perusing my depleted collection of stamp sets I came across another uninked one that I thought would be perfect for this week's challenge - take a look:

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

Fluttering Fairies - As with yesterday's card, I'm rediscovering sets that have been sitting unused on my shelf as we transition from one catalogue to another. The 'Fairy Celebration' stamp set is new to me - I love the little whimsical fairies that are perfect for colouring and as someone who often creates with and for children, I knew this set would have lots of appeal. I also love how for the fairy that I featured on my card today you can punch out the wings with the retiring Bitty Butterfly punch for a 3D effect. 

Shimmer, Shimmer - When I thought about the word 'shimmer', I immediately thought Shimmery White cardstock, clear Wink of Stella and Dazzling Diamonds glitter - and fairy wings of course! I used all of the above products on my fairy card, heat embossing the stardust trail and glittery fairy wings and adding additional Wink of Stella to the vellum wings to add further iridescence. Along with the Shimmery White card base, I must confess this is one of those cards where it is difficult to capture how very pretty and shimmery this card is in real life - you will just have to take my word for it!

No Line Watercolouring - I stamped the fairy in Powder Pink and watercoloured her using the no-line watercolouring technique as I wanted her to be rather undefined and allow the shimmer to take centre stage. 

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. 

We are off for a picnic in the park today with friends; the weather hasn't been as warm this last few days, but if it stays dry I'm sure plenty of fun will be had by all. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with the official launch of the new 2017-18 Stampin' up! Annual Catalogue - how exciting! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fairy Celebration Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy
Berry Burst A4 Cardstock	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Aqua Painters
Vellum A4 Cardstock	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Counting down now - only 2 days to go until the new 2017-18 Annual Stampin' Up! catalogue launches!

I have sent out copies to everyone on my catalogue mailing list who has purchased from me in the last 6 months - if you're not on this list but would like to receive one, then do give me a call on 07773 421446 or drop me an email and I will pop one in the post to you.

We are on the home straight for purchases from the current annual and spring-summer catalogue; there will be a full reminder of everything that is closing tomorrow, however meanwhile if you still have an order to place this month, don't forget to use the current online hostess code DXFJQZPN to receive a little thank you from me. This code will close tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, so be sure to have placed your orders online before this to benefit. If you are local to me and wish to save on postage, please ensure you have your order to me by midday tomorrow to be included on this order.

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

This sketch was perfect for an idea I've had in my head for a while using a stamp set from the annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Layering Love - A new catalogue often means much less current stock in the stamp room, as old makes way for new and new consists of some select pre-order items. This has its advantages though - it encourages a look through those stamp sets that are carrying over from one annual catalogue to the next with fresh eyes - and in some instances, as with today's card, results in a set that has been languishing to be inked up for the first time (yay!) I bought the set some time ago because I love the big, bold feature sentiments it contains. The one I've used on today's card was the clincher though - not only is this a sweet sentiment for a new baby card, but is perfect for memory keeping and scrapbook pages or even a framed piece of wall art. I just had to have it - shame it's taken me so long to ink it up! The sentiment stamps are also designed to fit perfectly inside the various layering shapes framelits - bonus!

Sneak Peeks Times Two - I've mixed the old with the new on my card today too: I used the heart from a new set called 'Wood Words' to create a tone-on-tone border along the bottom part of my card using my trusty stamp-a-ma-jig to get my hearts neatly lined up and for my embellishment I added a sweet bunny that I fussy cut from the new Pick-A-Pattern Designer Series Paper. Full of eclectic hand-drawn images and quirky animals - I love this paper!

A Modern Colour Combo - I was tempted to go pink all the way with my card today, but decided to introduce black to tie in with my fussy-cut outlined bunny and I think it makes for a fresh and modern colour combination and tempers the brightness of Flirty Flamingo - feel free to save it if you would like to try it out on your projects:

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 a little later than anticipated posting today; the joys of having the James Juniors home for the half-term holiday! We spent the day running errands, posting and delivering catalogues and purchasing some things ready for one of them to embark on a Geography field trip next week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project, hopefully posted before our day begins. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Layering Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies	Wood Words Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies	Pick A Pattern Designer Series Paper
Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Flirty Flamingo A4 Cardstock	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad

Happy Bank Holiday Monday to all my UK readers today and to all those in the USA - Happy Memorial Day. I hope you've all been enjoying the long weekend and perhaps have even been able to squeeze in a little extra crafting time too. Today I'm sharing a couple of cards - the first one using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I still need a couple of Father's Day cards so decided to use up a few more retiring products and 'go masculine' - perfect for the challenge over at SUO Challenges too. Here's my card:

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

Best Dad Ever - This sentiment is from the 'Everyday Tags' stamp set, whilst designed to co-ordinate with the Cheerful Tags Framelits Dies, also makes a great focal sentiment for my card. 

Layered Squares - I can't seem to put down my Layering Squares lately! Here I adapted them slightly to create a rectangle that would frame my sentiment better and used a piece of Urban Underground Specialty Designer Series Paper for my background. 

Nailed It - I paper-pieced three tools from the 'Nailed It' set for my embellishments and cut them out by hand as I didn't want a border around the edge. I also used the 'Happy Father's Day' stamp inside 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. Is your Dad a tools man into DIY or would you choose an alternative theme for your card? Do let me know in the comments below - I would love to hear your thoughts.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Everyday Tags Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Nailed It Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Urban Underground A4 Cardstock Pack	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
Basic Black A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The awesomely talented Laurie is the hostess this week and she has a sketch for us to work with:

I love a good sketch and this one was perfect for me to open a new stamp set that I won at Onstage in April but hadn't inked up yet - take a look:

Isn't that little piggy cute?! Here's the low-down on today's card:

This Little Piggy - This fun set of animated pigs in a variety of poses is set to be hugely popular if the 'oohs' and 'aahs' that accompanied Charlotte Harding's demonstration at Onstage are anything to go by. Who doesn't love a pig or know someone who does? The excitement in the room when this set was offered up as a prize patrol was palpable, but that was nothing compared to how I reacted when I won it - I think it's fair to say I gave a piggy squeal of delight! I've used the 'serious' pig on my card today, that can be paired with one of two sentiments. I stamped the image and sentiment separately on my card and completed the sentence inside my card, complete with kisses:

Isn't that sweet? A perfectly fun anniversary card for this week's challenge over at As You See It too - this card is perfect for my hubby!

Lots Of Layers - I took the opportunity to add some layers to my focal image with a mix of stitched shapes and layered squares. On this card I punched my sentiment out with the classic label punch, rather than stamp it directly onto the patterned paper layer as I did on the card below.

Paper Pick 'n' Mix - I'm taking the opportunity to use up my retiring papers so this card features some polka dots from the Brights stack as well as some Pop of Pink DSP for the horizontal band. I also created a second card using the Playful Palette DSP stack papers with an alternative sentiment pairing - take a look:

And here's the inside:

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

Here's the details for my second card:

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our sketch this week. Do leave me a comment and let me know which of these little pigs you prefer and if they are on your wishlist too! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a Bank Holiday on Monday so an extra long one, which is great. I am hoping for a continuation of this lovely weather and another BBQ, possibly followed by a bike ride. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Playful Palette Designer Series Paper Stack	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock	Blushing Bride A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies
Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Classic Label Punch
Brights Enamel Shapes

Happy Friday everyone! Today I'm sharing a fun card that I cased from one I saw on Pinterest by Belinda Neil a while ago but haven't got around to sharing - take a look:

You can see Belinda's original card here. I thought this was such a fun card, especially for those of you out there with children who have read Eric Carle's classic 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' story book - probably, like me, many, many times!

This fun card is made using nothing more than inks, stamps and paper - specifically, the Balloon Builder stamp set. I made you a super simple, speedy video to show you how I created this card from start to finish:

Isn't that easy? Who would have thought that the Balloon Builder stamp set could be used to create something so fun? This is another one of those stamp sets that is retiring next week, so if you want to recreate this card, you'll need to click on the link below and hop over to the online store and put it into your basket!

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'm spending mine at Rebecca's Sports Day watching javelin-throwing and the 200m sprint amongst other things and hopefully enjoying a picnic lunch and the glorious weather we have been blessed with here in the UK this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Balloon Builders Photopolymer Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Rich Razzleberry Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad

Today I'm sharing a card from this month's technique class which featured the So In Love bundle and the beautiful Falling In Love designer series paper - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

So Detailed Thinlits - The main feature on the front of these cards is the pair of diecut panels cut using the Big Shot and the largest of the So Detailed Dies. They really are so beautiful! I backed them with some of the Falling In Love designer series paper - these papers have some lovely subtle images, some of them photographic, that make a perfect background for these detailed diecuts. Unfortunately both of these items are now sold out here in the UK - I love this card though and just had to share it so hopefully for those of you who already have these items this will still serve as useful inspiration.

So In Love - I used the So In Love stamp set to stamp my greeting on my label wrap and to decorate the inside of my card. This card is larger than usual at 6" square and opens in a concertina style - this really shows the diecuts off to full advantage. 

A New Favourite - Yes, it's here again - I used the Pretty Label Punch for my sentiment panel on the front of my card, backed with a pinched circle - can you tell how much I LOVE this new punch?!

This card is subtle in colour, using only Very Vanilla and Sahara Sand - perfect for a wedding that doesn't have a strong colour scheme. It would work well and could be adapted as an invitation too, so lots of creative possibilities and it really is the Big Shot that does all the work on this one (a die brush is essential to poke all those little pieces out cleanly!)

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:

So In Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Pretty Label Punch
2" (5.1 Cm) Circle Punch	Very Vanilla 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Satin Ribbon	Falling In Love Embellishments

Today I'm sharing a reminder of some of the kits that will be retiring from the current annual catalogue. You can read my previous posts about the Watercolour Wishes and Oh Happy Day all inclusive card kits here and here. The catalogue also includes some fun project kits too, including the Perfectly Wrapped product kit.

This kit contains everything you need to create 8 bags (4 each of 2 different designs) and 8 boxes (4 each of 2 different designs). Here's a picture of everything the kit contains:

This little lot makes a whole ton of cute boxes and bags that are perfect for gifting treats:

You can use it with the co-ordinating Perfectly Wrapped stamp set or find your own creative uses for it - you choose! 

In addition to the photo of one of the bags above, here's one of the boxes that I made up:

These would be great for party favours and are also proving popular with my daughter's almost teenage friends due to the trendy packaging and are a great size for jewellery, makeup or a good supply of chocolates!

The nice people at Stampin' Up! have also produced a video that show how this kit comes together:

If you want to get your hands on some stylish packaging that's easy to put together, click on the links at the bottom of today's post to go the online store. It's a wrap!

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:

Perfectly Wrapped Project Kit

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Fusion:

I went with both the sketch and photo inspiration for my card today - I loved the navy and white colour combination and the strong pattern influence in the inspiration photo:

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

Label Me Pretty - The focal point for my card is a layered label from the new Label Me Pretty set. I featured one of the other labels in this set in my Saturday post (if you missed it you can see it here); for today's card I punched out my main label using the new Pretty Label Punch and added some additional layering to the circles in the centre. 

Floral Boutique - I love the patterns in the Floral Boutique designer series paper pack and will be sorry to see this paper retire. Fear not though, there is a silver lining: 4 of the patterns in this pack are returning in the new In-Colour Fresh Florals Designer Series Paper Pack, including the one I've used on my card today. Hooray - now I can re-create my card in the new in-colours too!

An Added Detail - In addition to some retired Sale-A-Bration metallic ribbon, I added one final detail to my card today; well actually, to the envelope! I took a co-ordinating piece of paper from the Floral Boutique stack and added it to my envelope flap for some pretty additional detail. This is a nice way to add a touch of colour to an otherwise plain envelope - after all, envelopes should never be naked!

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:

Label Me Pretty Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Pretty Label Punch	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Circle Punch
1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our amazing and fearless leader Nance to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I took the opportunity to use this week's Paper Craft Crew Sketch for my card today as I haven't played along over there for a while:

This simple layout was perfect for a clean and simple card with a feature butterfly - take a look:

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

Watercolour Wings - I decided to use the larger of the Watercolour Wings butterflies to create the focal point on my card today. I used the same set for my sentiment, that I chopped up by hand. This is a great set for a clean and simple card - I really should use it more often!

Fluttering White Space - I wanted to keep my 'white space' white and uncluttered, however decided to add interest by embossing my background with my Fluttering Embossing Folder. 

Loving Lemon-Lime Twist - I decided to feature one of the new in-colours on my card today: Lemon-Lime Twist. I paired it with Dapper Denim and Night of Navy for my butterfly, along with a little Night of Navy baker's twine and Navy on Lime for my sentiment - I so love these two colours together! This green is so zingy and fresh - it is a definite new favourite of mine! Here's my colour combination in case you would like to try it on a future project:

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:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Watercolor Wings Photopolymer Stamp Set	Bold Butterfly Framelits Dies	Fluttering Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Night Of Navy Solid Baker's Twine	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock
Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Happy Saturday everyone! A mix of old and new today and not a card but some cute packaging which is perfect for this week's Global Design Project challenge:

Many of my readers know that the James family are keen vegetable growers and we have a small kitchen garden which keeps us supplied with fresh vegetables through the summer months. We also have a collection of fruit trees and last year for the first time I started making my own jam. one of my James Juniors is an absolute jam addict - given the choice, Ben would live on jam on toast  - so much so, that his big sister once declared we should have called him 'Jam-in-Ben' rather than 'Ben-jam-in', something that sticks to this day!

Anyway, I digress - making my own jam is a great way to make the most of our fruit and meet demand. I also love to give it away as a gift occasionally too and that's where today's project comes in; whilst Ben is all about the jam itself, if I'm gifting it I like to pretty up the packaging somewhat and there is a stamp set in the new catalogue that is perfect for me  - take a look:

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

Label Me Pretty - The new 'Label Me Pretty' stamp set is just perfect for me and anyone else how likes to preserve or cook and pretty-up their gifts for giving; the label I've used today works for any kind of produce. The set includes lots of other stamps too, that would work for other types of gift giving or on cards too - look out for more featuring those another day. Wondering how I got it so beautifully cut out too? That would be the co-ordinating Pretty Label Punch  - love this! I will have my jams labelled in no-time!! 

Fruit Stand - I paired my label with a band of strawberry-patterned Fruit Stand paper; a great pack with images of apples, pears lemons and peaches too. This is retiring 31 May though so if you want to add this to your jam jars you need to stock up soon!

Add A Spoon - Lastly, I wanted to add a little something to my jar and added a little wooden spoon, stamped with a strawberry from the 'Cool treats' stamp set. This is a simple way to add a 'wow' to a plain spoon - and in the words of Ben, a great way to enable someone to tuck in to their jam as soon as they receive it! I simply tied it to my jar using some of the retiring Cucumber Crush 5/8" mini-striped ribbon - here's a close up of my spoon detail: 

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. 

Given the recent addition of four chickens to the James Household, my next challenge is to use some of our eggs to create homemade lemon curd, one of Rebecca's favourite treats. Watch this space for some lemon-inspired packaging at some point later in the year! Oh and if Stampin' Up! could provide some raspberry-patterned paper it would also be much appreciated!!

I'll be back tomorrow with another project for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players. We have a busy day today - Rebecca has a big swimming meet and is racing all day (at the time of writing, she has already achieved two 100m personal bests for her breaststroke and individual medley, so that is great news) and Ben has a football-themed birthday party to attend followed by his swimming lesson. Enjoy your day and until tomorrow, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Label Me Pretty Clear-Mount Bundle

Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad

Fruit Stand Designer Series Paper

Cool Treats Photopolymer Stamp Set