Good evening all! I had an unexpected uninterrupted day at home today and with the exception of a large basket of ironing, I've spent pretty much the whole day crafting - bliss! I had lots of partially finished projects on my desk and am glad to have been able to complete a fair few of these and cleared some space. I also had some new goodies arrive today and when I saw this week's Colour Me ...! challenge colours and photo inspiration, I just knew I was going to have to ink one of them up to complete a card for this challenge! I also used this week's sketch over at Retrosketches for my layout and tied it in with Jaydee's theme of 'Mother' over at The Paper Players this week:

I always think of Cherry Cobbler as a Christmas colour, so it's nice to use it for something that isn't seasonal. Here is my card:

This card was the perfect excuse to ink up my new Stippled Blossoms stamp set. I've much admired this set for some time as I love the effect of the two-step stamping on the flowers, which look so typical of old English roses, but only recently purchased it. It's essential to use a stamp-a-ma-jig to get the images perfectly aligned - and there is no matching framelit, so the blossoms all need to be fussy cut by hand - but it is so worth it. I used my flowers to frame my central panel, a sheet of Watercolour Wonder DSP in White/Smoky Slate, onto which I heat-embossed the sentiment 'A Million and One Thanks' in Pewter. I matted this onto a square of Cherry Cobbler and used a Smoky Slate base. We've already celebrated Mothering Sunday here in the UK, but I decided to stay with this theme for my card. I thought this sentiment was quite appropriate; I know I don't thank my own Mother or Mother-in-law enough for everything they do for me and my family. I added a label (punched with the edge of the Decorative Label Punch) to incorporate 'to my delightful Mother' too and I finished off my card with a simple chevron ribbon trim and some rhinestones to add some sparkle.

Do check out the links to the challenges above for more design inspiration, especially Colour Me ...! where my long-distance Stampin' Up! buddy LeAnne Pugliese is the guest designer this month; you can check out her card on her Wee Inklings blog here.

Back tomorrow with another project (maybe even another video!); until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Stippled Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Delightful Dozen - Clear-Mount Stamp	Million & One	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Smoky Slate	Cherry Cobbler A4 Card Stock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
Cherry Cobbler 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Decorative Label Punch	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug

It's still Wednesday (just!) and they're here: today's Wednesday Weekly Deals! This week's deals are included below - they will be available for one week only, before a new collection of deals is announced.

As always, if you want to take advantage of any of the deals on offer, you can support my business by placing your order online by clicking here or using the link to my store on the right hand side of my blog page where it says 'Shop Online' or with me in person. Don't forget to add the Hostess Code for May (you can find this under the 'Shop Online' section on the right. 

Here's a summary of this week's one-week only Wednesday deals - click on each item to go to the online store to purchase:

Beautifully Baroque Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Champagne Glass Glitter	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Melon Mambo Stampin' Emboss Powder	Pewter Stampin' Emboss Powder
The Man, The Myth Board Book Designer Template - Digital Download	Wild Wasabi Stampin' Emboss Powder	Wildflower Meadow Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

Embossing is the name of the game this week, with some great offers on dry embossing folders and powders and a heat gun for heat embossing. Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy shopping!

Today I'm sharing one of the latest additions to the Stampin' Up! range: the Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit. It costs just £17.95 and contains literally EVERYTHING you need to make 20 cards - tags, embellishments, cards, envelopes,  stamps, ink, block - yes, everything! This kit is great for seasoned crafters who want to stock up on cards in a hurry and those who are new to crafting - if you've never stamped before, this is the kit for you!

To see just how easy it is, check out my lighthearted video below where I make all 20 cards in under 6 minutes:

Ok, so there was some fast-forwarding in there!! In reality it took me just over an hour to make all 20 cards, which is still a great output for a short time investment. If you would like to purchase a Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit, get in touch or pop on over to my online store and place an order today. This kit would also make a great gift, maybe for a teenager or someone who likes crafting or to try new things - at less than £1 per card, it represents great value.

Better still, why not get together a group of friends and host your very own Hip Hip Hooray Card Party? I'll provide the kits, all you need to provide is the refreshments. I'll be on hand to help and answer any questions and I guarantee that by the end of the session you will have 20 cards to be proud of! Contact me to book your Hip Hip Hooray Card Party today!

And here's one more look at the finished cards:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit

It's so nice to have an extra day added onto the weekend; a bonus day of family time and today with the added extra of a visit to some friends to see some of the cutest tiny black Labrador puppies EVER (no we didn't bring one home, although I think Rebecca was tempted to smuggle one out in her pocket!)

Today's card was initially inspired by the unusual sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch this week:

I played about with a few ideas for this sketch and eventually settled on the following card:

I decided to make the swirl into a path of colour from my pencil, which is one of the stamps in the 'Making a Point' hostess set. I created a mask then sponged three blended shades of purple (Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant and Perfect Plum) to create my swathe of variegated colour. I then stamped the sentiment only from the pencil stamp directly onto the card base and stamped the pencil onto a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock, coloured with the same shades of purple and a blender pen, and cut out with my paper snips and mounted at an angle on dimensionals.

I'm also linking my 'Clean and Simple' card up with the challenge over at Less is More this week where the challenge is to use either three colours or three shades of one colour and The Card Concept where the challenge is to use monochromatic purple on your card.

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'.

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Making A Point - Clear-Mount Stamp	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Elegant Eggplant A4 Card Stock	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad	Perfect Plum Classic Stampin' Pad
Wisteria Wonder Classic Stampin' Pad	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Blender Pens	3/16 Inch Corner Punch

I have a few wedding cards to make for a number of forthcoming nuptials and when I saw the sketch over at Create with Connie and Mary this week I knew it would be perfect for one of the cards I had in mind. Here is this week's sketch:

My wedding card needed to be Whisper White, Marina Mist and silver as I wanted it to reflect the wedding stationery which had been made by the mother of the bride a good friend and customer of mine. Here is my card:

It is very simple as I wanted my silver heat-embossed 'Mr & Mrs' to take centre stage and I layered my centre panel on dimensionals on a piece of brushed silver cardstock, both of which were cut out using the labels framelits. I turned the sketch around through 180 degrees, as I wanted my embellishment to be a silver glimmer butterfly and it looked better top right than bottom left and I used a piece of silver taffeta ribbon to create a band around my Marina Mist mat. Very simple but like the original wedding stationery, very elegant and with just a hint of sparkle.

If you'd like to see more great design inspiration for this sketch, check out what the CCMC design team have been up to - there are some great interpretations over there this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Mr. & Mrs.	Elegant Butterfly Punch	Silver Glimmer Paper	Labels Collection Framelits Dies	Brushed Silver A4 Card Stock
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Embossing Buddy
Versamark Pad	Marina Mist A4 Card Stock	Silver 1/8" Ribbon	Heat Tool - Uk Plug

What a lovely day - the weather here in the UK today has been glorious! We went to a restaurant for family breakfast, I baked and I even managed to get a little gardening done today; all in all a great start to the Bank Holiday weekend. Today's card uses the sketch layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and the colour combination of clashing pinks and oranges over at Colour Q this week:

 I based my card on the dress in the colour inspiration photo - here is my card:

 I used the retired Pretty in Pink for the card base and stamped a border across the bottom in the same colour using the butterfly from the 'This Day Forward' stamp set to add some background pattern. I used a doily semi-circle for shape and used a trio of flowers stamped from the Secret Garden stamp set and cut out with the co-ordinating framelits. I wanted to keep the flowers bold and bright, so I stamped them on the same colour cardstock and then used my aquapainter to wash more ink across the petals. I tucked in some Old Olive leaves behind and finished the flowers with some pearl centres and a Calypso Coral statement bow.

This card is much more feminine and girly than my usual style, but I like the way it turned out.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Aqua Painter	Secret Garden Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Secret Garden Framelits Dies	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Magnetic Platform
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock	Old Olive A4 Card Stock
Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Tea Lace Paper Doilies	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	This Day Forward

Hello everyone - yes, it's Friday at last! And a three day weekend here in the UK too, so bonus! I've been busy working on wedding cards for commissions today so will share those another time. Today I'm sharing one of the cards I made with my ladies in my card class this month. The cards we made all featured the Happy Watercolour stamp set - today's card is a simple card stamped with the poppy stamp:

We punched three squares out of the front of the card (I used a retired square punch for this but you could use the Squares framelits as an alternative), then using the stamp-a-ma-jig to align the images on the inside of the card, we stamped the poppies in black so that they could be seen through the punched 'windows'. Each of the poppies was then overstamped with the large watercolour 'splodge' stamp (I think that is a genuine technical term!) like so:

A simple thank you sentiment on the front of this card provides the finishing touch. This card was as much about getting my ladies used to using a stamp-a-ma-jig; many of them own one, but weren't confident in using it so I've been making sure that at least one card in each class offers the opportunity to practice. You know what they say - practice makes perfect :-) I wouldn't be without mine, that's for sure.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Card Stock	Jet Black Stazon Pad
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Stamp-A-Ma-Jig	Happy Watercolor

Back again with a creative post today - just in time to share my card for The Paper Players this week, where Anne Marie has this sketch challenge for us:

I decided to use a sheet of the flower patterned paper from the Fresh Prints DSP Stack as the starting point for my card; I love the pattern on this paper, but have been almost afraid to use it as it's so busy. Today I took the plunge - here's my card:

I used a Coastal Cabana base for my card, then matted a piece of Crumb Cake on Real Red and adhered to the base. I used the flower DSP for the main panel and broke slightly from the sketch to put my sentiment on the second rectangular panel, as opposed to the Crumb Cake layer. I stamped the blossom stamp from the Morning Meadow hostess set around it, having coloured it with my Crumb Cake and Coastal Cabana markers, then punched three flowers from Coastal Cabana cardstock using my Itty Bitty Flower punch and moulded them around the end of my paper piercing tool to shape them before adhering over some of the stamped blossoms. I then finished with a Real Red stamped flower from Simple Stems and three red candy dots (I really need these to be sold in packs of red only - I use more red ones than any other colour!!)

I'm quite pleased with the final result - the bold red borders really ground the busy flower pattern I think. I'm also linking this card up with SUO Challenges, where the challenge this week is to use a flower on your card.

Must go - I've grocery shopping to do before I turn in for the night (thank heavens for online grocery stores!)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Simple Stems	Simply Sketched	Morning Meadow	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Card Stock	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Crumb Cake Stampin Write Marker
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Brights Candy Dots	Punch Pack	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Good morning everyone! I've bumped today's creative post as I have more exciting Stampin' Up! news to share with you: following on from successful trials in the USA, Stampin' Up! is introducing photopolymer stamps in Europe too!

Stampin' Up! have spent a long time trying to find the right material to introduce clear stamping to the Stampin' Up! range that gives the high standards of stamp and finish that you would expect of the Stampin' Up! brand and this is it! The forthcoming annual catalogue will now contain wood mount, clear mount and photopolymer stamp sets. There are lots of benefits to photopolymer stamps: they are great value (they are cheaper to produce so you get more stamps per set) and above all their transparency means that they make it so easy to line up your images, without the need for a guide or a stamp-a-ma-jig. Here's a short video showing you how they work:

Now for the best bit - FREE STAMPS!! To celebrate the introduction of the photopolymer range, Stampin' Up! are offering a limited offer on Stampin' Up! photopolymer sets. For every order of £60 or more between 1-31 May, you can choose one of a selection of photopolymer stampsets FREE! This offer is only available whilst stocks last though, so if you'd like one, you need to get your Stampin' Up! order placed as soon as possible! if you're ordering online, don't forget to use the online hostess code to be in with a chance of earning additional benefits. The icons below show the stamp sets on offer (these are not clickable through to my online store - you will be presented with the option to add them to your basket when you have an order with a qualifying spend). To order, simply follow the shop online link on the right of this page.

Show & Tell 1 Photopolymer Stamp Set

Show & Tell 2 Photopolymer Stamp Set

Eye-Catching Ikat Photopolymer Stamp Set

Sans And Stripes Photopolymer Stamp Set

Back shortly with today's creative post; until then, happy stampin'!

Good evening blog readers! Today I'm just in time with a card for this week's Colour Q challenge - here is the colour palette:

Last week I was chosen as one of the ColourQ Courtiers - you can see my winning card here. I saw this week's colour palette and photo inspiration and decided to make a card using a technique that I'm teaching in my card classes this week - painting on a white watercoloured background within a heat-embossed outline (not sure if there's a more succinct title for this technique, but that's how you do it!). Here is my card:

I went for a simple and bright layered background of Daffodil Delight on a Pear Pizzazz base, as I wanted the detail on my tag to take centre stage. I stamped my flower image in white kraft ink onto a piece of Crumb Cake cut with the Scallop Tag Topper Punch, then heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then, using my aquapainter, I painted the whole of the image white using the white craft ink, then when dry used my aquapainter again to over-paint with Daffodil Delight and Elegant Eggplant on the flowers, and Pear Pizzazz for the stems. I backed this tag with a second one cut out of Elegant Eggplant for another splash of colour and finished with a double ribbon bow topper and stamped a simple birthday sentiment.

The stamp that I used on my tag is from the 'Happy Watercolour' set and does require quite a long tag to fit it onto, which doesn't lend itself to a standard A6 card size. So I made a bespoke card, 200mm x 105mm, for which I then needed a bespoke envelope. And so to the exciting news that I hinted at the end of yesterday's post - I have another cool tool for you!

Following on from the huge success of Box Buster from The Crafty Owl, which enables you to make any size box using your Envelope Punch Board, I had so many requests for a similar tool to create an envelope of any size, I thought I had better get on with it - and Envelope Expert from The Crafty owl is the result! In truth I don't make that many unusually sized cards, and therefore envelopes, I didn't appreciate there was such a need to go beyond the 66 standard envelope sizes that come with the board - but having 'busted' boxes, Envelope Expert was pretty straightforward. So for everyone who asked, here it is! you can find this free to use tool at www.thecraftyowl.co.uk/envelopeexpert or simply go to www.thecraftyowl.co.uk and on the menu choose 'Tools' and 'Envelope Expert'. To see Envelope Expert in action, why not watch the short video below:

Now you can make any size card and matching envelope you like, just as easily as you can make an any size box - can you tell how much I love my Envelope Punch Board?!

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin' - and envelope-making :-)

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Happy Watercolor	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Elegant Eggplant Classic Stampin' Pad
Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz	Elegant Eggplant A4 Card Stock	Simply Sketched
Daffodil Delight 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	Pear Pizzazz 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Aqua Painter	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Envelope Punch Board	Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack