It's been a busy week with blogging every other day I'm afraid as there is just so much happening in the James household. Rebecca gave a sterling performance as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz on Thursday and whilst Friday evening was a relatively quiet one, I did not manage a post! Yesterday I did manage to finish my preparations for next week's classes and make a few more cards, so onwards and upwards as the saying goes! 

Today it's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Sandy to host this week and she has a festive themed challenge for us to play along with:

Christmas in July - now that is what I call organised! For my card this week I decided to use my Foxy Friends bundle again - this time to create a cute reindeer for my Christmas card. I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch and the Color Throwdown colour palette for my creation:

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

A Little Foxy Festive Reindeer - As I mentioned last week, the 'Foxy Friends' stamp set makes all kinds of cute baby critters and woodland animals - including a festive reindeer. Aren't those little antlers just adorable?

Lots of Labels - I decided to frame my stamped reindeer with a double mat in Real Red and Chocolate Chip using the Lots of Labels framelits. These framelits are great for layering and create a little more interest than a standard rectangle.

Red-Nosed Rudolf - I have used a number of retired products on my card today: the red button, the circle framelits to cut the background circle and the paper that I used for it (it's so vintage I don't even remember its name!) but since the background paper has a lovely glittery red polka dot pattern, I decided I did need to use one of my new favourite embellishments to finish my card in style: a Real Red Enamel Shape circle - the perfect finishing touch for my reindeer's nose!

I just love the versatility of this stamp set; that coupled with my first Christmas card of the year I think makes this a worthy 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. 

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 Christmas creations in the gallery this week.

It is another big day in the James household today: Ben was selected for the Northamptonshire county allstars under-10s basketball team and he has his first match against Oxfordshire this afternoon. It's a big deal as he is one of only 12 children selected across the whole of the county - and we are all going to cheer him on for his match. Wish him luck!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Foxy Friends Photopolymer Stamp Set	Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies	Banner Triple Punch	Brights Enamel Shapes	Chocolate Chip A4 Cardstock
Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad	So Saffron A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a sketch for you:

For my card today I decided to go with a classically elegant wedding/anniversary card using the new Floral Phrases stamp set that is part of the Floral Boutique suite:

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

Hand Painted Florals - The stamps in the Floral Phrases set, just like the co-ordinating Floral Boutique designer papers, have the appearance of hand painted images when stamped, with gradations in colour for artistic effect. They also include a beautiful script and some heartfelt sentiments - I included the one in my card in the thumbnail above.

Not Quite Mirrored - I stamped the floral image then rotated it through 180 degrees and stamped it again to give me my focal point. The images are not a mirror image of each other, yet combining the two images in this way does create a seamless focal point, with the join covered by my sentiment banner. 

A Classic Colour Combination - Navy and white is a classic colour combination that features throughout the Floral Boutique suite. I wound some Night of Navy solid baker's twine around my card behind my banner and added a strip of gold sequins to add a little extra sparkle to my otherwise monochromatic card.

Today's card is a nice easy one to re-create and perfect for a summer wedding - why not have a go yourself?

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

We have a big day today: it's finally time for The Wizard of Oz and Rebecca's performance of the Dorothy. She has four performances today, so I'm wishing her well - I'll report back in full tomorrow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good morning lovely readers! I have a nice early post today, as I have a busy day ahead and managed amongst all my cooking and cleaning yesterday to make my card for today too. I decided to go with the sketch over at Pals Paper Arts today - such inspiring design team samples too:

I decided to showcase another of the patterns in my favourite designer series paper pack, Affectionately Yours. Today's post comes with a warning: you might need sunglasses to view today's card, it is rather bright!!

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

Just Beecause - I love a good play on words, so the 'Pun Intended' exclusive hostess set is perfect for me. Today I used the bee from this set and stamped him twice each time, once onto Daffodil Delight cardstock and once onto vellum. I fussy cut both pieces and attached the vellum wings to the yellow bodies, for a realistic feel. I then paired him with one of the two bee-related sentiments in this set - how fun!

Layering Squares - Each of my bees is grounded by a triple layered square, all cut using the new Layering Squares framelits. This helps them stand out from my busy background paper, whilst also following the sketch and uses my base colours, taken from the Affectionately Yours paper:

Add A Wink - I brushed my bees wings with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. Difficult to see in the photo (the thumbnail at the top of the post is the best opportunity) but I can assure you adds such a pretty sparkle in real life.

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day; I'm off to prize giving awards ceremony at school this afternoon. Rebecca is making her final speech as outgoing Head Girl so I'm taking some tissues as I'm sure there will be a tear or two! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper	Pun Intended Photopolymer Stamp Set	Layering Squares Framelits Dies	Cucumber Crush A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

Happy Monday everyone! No creative post from me today; with only 4 days left this month, I thought it was a good time to remind you of the two offers that will finish at the end of this month:

• Earn Additional Stampin' Rewards with a single order or qualifying party sales  You can earn an additional £25 in Stampin' Rewards when you place an individual order for or reach qualifying party sales of £250 or more during the month of June. Don't forget these Stampin' Rewards can also be used towards a starter kit if you choose to join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator - making the starter kit even better value! If you would like to host your own Stampin' Up! party and take full advantage of the extra rewards, then please do get in touch! 

• Earn Free Stamps in June’s Promotion for New SU! Joiners.  As a demonstrator on my team, you will belong to a friendly team where you get to be the first to see and order products from upcoming catalogues. You also get to earn a discount on the products you already love – with no risks or penalties if you don't meet your quarterly minimum.  During the month of June when you join, you also earn two free stamp sets of your choice (they’ll be added to your starter kit). These can be any stamps at all from the new catalogue - so if you choose wisely (think alphabets and large sentiment sets!) these two stamp sets alone could be worth £91 or more. The Starter Kit is £99 for £130 of free product of your choice. My team is a mix of both hobby stampers and business demonstrators and I love and appreciate them all.  If you would like to take to me about becoming a demonstrator and joining us, please do get in touch for a no obligation chat about the benefits. Alternatively if you know this is the deal for you, don't delay and click here to join today!

Back tomorrow with a new card project; until then, happy stampin'!

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 300th anniversary celebrations last week - there were some fabulous cards in the gallery and it's your support for our challenge that keeps us going. Congratulations to all those who were winners in our grab bag prize draw - I'm looking forward to sending mine out to someone soon!

It's my turn to host again this week and I have my most favourite of all challenges, a sketch, for to play along with:

For my card this week I decided to go with some of my favourite new items from the new annual catalogue - the Little Foxy Suite:

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

More Than A Little Foxy - So I'm in love with this cute fox! The 'Foxy Friends' stamp set makes all kinds of cute baby critters and woodland animals - I think this fox is just the sweetest. The fact that he comes with a co-ordinating punch - I used it here to punch out his head for extra dimension - is a bonus and the co-ordinating paper stack makes this suite a force to be reckoned with. 

Layered Layers - My card today is all about the layers. Whilst my sketch looks quite simple, I used a total of 9 separate layers on my card. In addition to my mats and patterned papers, I used the new Layering Circles Framelits to create the surrounds for my woodland scene, added to which partial diecutting of the uppermost circle and the masked stamping of the fox, tree stump and trees, adds further depth and the illusion of even more layers.

What Does The Fox Say? - I thought this would make a fun sentiment for my card today, easily created using the Labeler Alphabet, which is perfect for bespoke sentiments and cut out with the Project Life Cards and Labels Framelits. I highlighted the word 'Fox' in Calypso Coral with the solid letters and added an enamel heart too. Oh and my fox - he says "Happy Birthday!" in case you were wondering :-)

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 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 my sketch this week. I have a day of sewing in store with some last minute guard costumes to make for Rebecca's school production of the Wizard of Oz this week, so my day will involve much green fur fabric - wish me luck!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Foxy Friends Photopolymer Bundle	A Little Foxy Designer Series Paper Stack	Layering Circle Framelits Dies	Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits Dies	Perfect Pines Framelits Dies
Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Labeler Alphabet Photopolymer Stamp Set
Subtles Enamel Shapes	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad

I had a lovely day yesterday in my memory keeping workshop with a lovely group of mums, however was utterly worn out last night! I've had a busy day today however I'm squeezing in a quick post this evening with a sweet card I made this afternoon for a couple of challenges:

I love this week's Mojo Monday sketch and knew immediately what I wanted to do with it; my card today also features one of my favourite new designer series papers - perfect for this week's challenge over at SUO Challenges where this is what they are asking us to use. Here's my card:

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

Thank You Beary Much Baby Bear - I was lucky enough to win this coveted Baby Bear stamp in a prize patrol at Onstage in April and whilst I've used her lots and experimented with different colours and techniques, this is the first time I've shared her on my blog. She is a triple-layer stamp and has such wonderfully textured fur, just like an old fashioned traditional teddy bear. I find it easier to stamp the images in reverse to get better alignment - here I've stamped layer 3 in Soft Suede, layer 2 in Soft Suede stamped off once and layer 1 in Crumb Cake stamped off once.

Affectionately Yours - The Affectionately Yours designer series papers are just lovely; the copper embossed papers are very special, however my favourites are the prints that include Night of Navy - they are so different to anything we've had in a while, and I just love the vibrant colours. My choice today was deliberate, both to tie in with my Crumb Cake teddy bear and also because I had a plan for those flowers - read on...

Not Just A Tree Builder Punch - I decided to add a punched flower necklace to my bear, along with a flower pinned to her head (hence her being a female bear) that would echo the print on the paper. I used the little flower on the Tree Builder Punch to create my embellishments - just the right size to pretty up my bear - and I added a few pearls to the centres to complete them.

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 tomorrow with another project for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Affectionately Yours Specialty Designer Series Paper	Baby Bear Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tree Builder Punch	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock
Banner Triple Punch	Pearl Basic Jewels

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

I am on a total new product kick this week and decided that today's colours were perfect for a fun fold and a sweet cupcake - take a look:

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

A Fancy Fold - Today's card is called a double z-fold card and is really easy to create. My card measures 5 1/2" x 5 1/2" square and was made out of one sheet of A4 Watermelon Wonder cardstock (I could have used my offcut for my strip across the front, but I didn't on this occasion as I wanted this to be a different colour, Whisper White). You can make this card using any size base: just choose your desired finished card height and width, cut your card base to the required height (e.g. 5 1/2") then if your desired width is 5 1/2", you will need a piece of cardstock 11" wide, and scored at a quarter of the width, so 2 3/4" and at the halfway point at 5 1/2". For your z-band, cut a piece of the same length and 1 1/2" wide, score at the same point, but fold along the scorelines in the opposite way to your card base and then rotate it through 180 degrees before adhering to your card. 

Sweet Layered Cupcake - I used all three of the challenge colours to create my delicious-looking cupcake, using triple-time stamping and the new 'Sweet Cupcake' stamp set. For the cupcake case I used Pool Party for all 3 layers, stamping off the first two stamps twice and once respectively to get layered colour. For the frosting, I stamped the first two layers in Blushing Bride, stamping off the first layer once and stamping the second layer full strength. The final layer is stamped in Watermelon Wonder, stamped off first to give a less intense finish. I then also brushed this layer with a liberal dose of clear Wink Of Stella for a sparkly shine.

Cupcake Cutouts - Sweet Cupcake is another stamp set with a co-ordinating framelit set that is available as a bundle at a 10% discount: the Cupcake Cutouts Framelits make light work of creating the perfect cupcake shape and also include other useful framelits and two very useful diecut words that can be used with the sentiments in the 'Sweet Cupcake' stamp set or on their own. Here I've used the 'sweet' overlaid on my cupcake to add a punch in Watermelon Wonder to finish 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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I have a card using this week's CAS(E) This Sketch and the colours over at The Global Design Project as inspiration:

For my card today I decided to break out another new set and create an understated card with my new Falling Flowers stamp set:

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

Falling Flowers Flourish - Every stamper needs a good floral flourish in their collection (it's the law, didn't you know? ;-) ) For some it has been Everything Eleanor, for others such as me it was Flowering Flourishes. Both of these sets now sadly retired, however I am doing a happy dance as this flourish in the new 'Falling Flowers' stamp set totally ticks my box - thank you Stampin' Up! The flourish looks beautiful on its own, but is also accompanied by other florals and a co-ordinating framelit set, May Flowers, to boot, for limitless creative possibilities. Here I've stamped it in Night of Navy and added a little extra colour with my blender pen to some of the leaves. 

The Importance of White Space - Whilst I love this colour combo, I think I'm having a love-hate relationship with the new In Colour, Sweet Sugarplum. It is a bold, strong purple and needs to be used in small doses if it isn't to overwhelm. On my card today I restricted it to my card base and the buds/berries on my flourish (I stamped them in Navy onto Sweet Sugarplum cardstock, fussy cut them and paper-pieced them together). I also added a touch of clear Wink of Stella to the buds for a little shimmer. 

An Enamel Shape for Balance - My flourish is definitely the star of the show on today's card and I paired it with one of my favourite sentiments from the 'You've Got This' stamp set as I was making this card with a special friend in mind. It needed one last thing to balance it out - I added a tiny Sweet Sugarplum In Colour Enamel Shape heart to make my card complete.

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

I'm off to Bells this morning for my fortnightly Coffee and Card Session and have lots of errands to run today. Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Falling Flowers Clear-Mount Stamp Set	You've Got This Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock
2016-2018 In Color Enamel Shapes	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad

Today I have a fun card made with this week's TGIF Challenge in mind:

The theme is 'travel' and I didn't have to go far as I mused 'trains, planes and automobiles ...' to myself when considering my options for today's card; I knew right away it was time to break out the new products and try something fun - a spinner card! Take a look: 

How much fun is that?! If you'd like to see a little video clip of my fun paper plane in action, click here to see the video I uploaded to my Facebook page. Forgive the wobble, I had the card in one hand and camera in the other!

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

Time To Take Flight - The new Sliding Star Framelits Dies are just fantastic for making quick and easy spinner cards. They include two tracks (I've used the circular one here; the set includes a curved one too) that with the aid of a couple of washers or coins and some of the new thick adhesive foam strips, allow construction of a spinner card in no time at all. The framelits also include dies to cut out each of the shapes in the Shooting Star stamp set that make the spinners themselves (except for the globe, which co-ordinates with the 1 1/4" circle punch) so my paper aeroplane was ready to go in no time.

A Sprinkle of Clouds - To add subtle interest to my background, I added a little tone-on-tone stamping in Soft Sky using the cloud stamp from last year's RMHC stamp set 'Sprinkles of Life' that is still in the current catalogue. I stamped the panel before cutting the track so that my clouds align. 

Celebrate Exam Success - In addition to the aeroplane and globe (coloured with my Stampin' Write markers), the 'Shooting Star' stamp set also comes with a handful of punny sentiments that co-ordinate with the shapes for a suitably-themed card. I decided to go with 'The sky's the limit!' as I thought this would be a perfect card to send to someone celebrating exam success and I know lots of people sitting GCSE exams this year so will be needing a few of these. I punched it with my now-retired word window punch, but the new Classic Label Punch would be a great alternative. I finished the ends with a couple of silver mini brads (also retired!).

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. 

Lastly, here's a video from those lovely people at the Stampin' Up! Home Office to show you just how easy it is to create spinners using this versatile set:

The sun is shining and for once it looks like it might stay that way, for today at least! My youngest James Junior is spending a 'moving up' day at his new school followed by an appointment for fitting of a whole new uniform ready for September. I have lots of work to do today but am also looking forward to unpacking the rather large boxes that my UPS man delivered as I was typing this, containing my customer orders from my new catalogue open house - so an exciting day all round!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Shooting Star Clear-Mount Bundle	1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch	Sprinkles Of Life Photopolymer Stamp Set	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock	2016-2018 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers	Whisper White A4 Cardstock

I'm early here with Monday's post as I want to be able to link up with a couple of challenges that I had in mind when I created this card:

At Global Design Project there is the 'CASE The Designer' challenge this week and then a fun trio of colours and photo inspiration over at The Color Throwdown. The GDP 'CASE The Designer' challenges are always fun and this week it's the turn of Shawn De Oliveira and his Butterfly Basics card. For my card today I decided to CASE Shawn's layout and instead of flowers or watercolouring to take my image inspiration from the Color throwdown and get some fruity action:

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

Pick Up A Pineapple - So what's competing with the flamingo in the current trend stakes? Well, the pineapple of course - they are everywhere! I finally succumbed and purchased the 'Pop Of Paradise' stamp set for that crazy flamingo and the first stamp I use is the pineapple! Easy to ink both parts separately, they add a fun touch to my thank you card. The sentiment banner is also from the same set, stamped in Archival Black and fussy cut.

CASE The Layout - The layout of Shawn's card worked perfectly for my pineapple trio. I just turned it through 90 degrees and used a strip of Cucumber Crush retired in colour washi tape for my top border, with a white baker's twine bow to separate it from the image panel. The thick black border was inspired by the outline of the pineapple image in the Color Throwdown picture.

Shine On - I decided to use a piece of the retired 'Shine On' specialty designer series paper for my background; flat kraft was a little plain and those sprigs of Cucumber Crush were just what my card needed.

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 grocery shopping, office tasks and a game of hockey to look forward to today; Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Pop Of Paradise Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad
Many Marvelous Markers	2015-2017 In Color Stampin' Write Markers