It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie And Mary and this week we have a great sketch challenge for you:

My post today is a treat for all my international readers, as I'm using one of the photopolymer sets that is available in the USA and unfortunately not for sale by Stampin' Up! in the UK. Whilst we are moving ever closer together in terms of catalogues, timesales and product ranges with our US colleagues, there are some things that remain USA-specific, such as the special issue sets, Paper Pumpkin and of course their clearance rack and shipping offers are country-specific. I absolutely love the Yee-Haw stamp set though and have been lucky enough to acquire one through one of my US stamping colleagues (thank you LeAnne!) and I decided it was perfect for today's sketch layout - take a look:

I took my colour palette directly from the Colour Coach (such a useful tool!) and on a base of Early Espresso, I matted a piece of Sahara Sand that I had run through my Woodgrain embossing folder and adhered flat side up. For the vertical lines of the sketch, I used three pieces of barbed wire - stamped in Basic Grey onto Basic Grey cardstock and fussy cut out - then topped this with a panel of Pacific Point, stamped in the circle star image in the set. I stamped my main sentiment in Early Espresso onto Whisper White, then topped this with the lasso rope stamped in Cajun Craze onto the same colour cardstock having cut out the middle and fussy cut around the edge. I finished with a 'birthday' banner and a paper-pieced cowboy hat. So lots of fussy cutting on my card today, but so worth it - what a fun card for a Rootin' Tootin' birthday boy!

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with using this week's sketch - do check out how the other members of the design team have used it for some great inspiration. I'll be back tomorrow with another project for Friday; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Finally, they are here! There were a few problems with the Stampin' Up! website earlier today, but now we have a new collection of 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 April DBJFM4DG or next week's one for May (check the 'shop online' box on the right) and be sure to make sure that you don't check the 'no contact' box if you'd like to be kept updated with the progress of you order and receive a little thank you in the post from me. 

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:

Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon	Gold Baker's Twine	Regals Designer Buttons	Silver 1/8" Ribbon
Silver Baker's Twine	Tiny Triangles Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Very Vintage Designer Buttons	Whisper White 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon

Lots of accessories on offer this week - buttons and ribbons galore! 

Back tomorrow with another card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary; until then, happy shopping!

Today's card is a congratulations card that I made for someone I know who recently achieved a long-awaited promotion and I wanted to make her a quick card to celebrate her success. This week's sketch layout over at Fab Friday was perfect for what I had in mind:

I decided to use one of the fun images in the Giggle Greetings set and do a little colouring with my now-discontinued Blendabilities on the main image - here is my card:

I used the colours of the Retro Fresh washi tape for my card colour scheme, with a base of So Saffron and mats in Tangerine Tango and Baked Brown Sugar. I stamped my fun dog image on Very Vanilla in Memento Black and coloured him with my skin-tone Blendabilties (although in retrospect I think he might have looked better watercoloured in Baked Brown Sugar, but there we are!) I added a piece of washi tape on Very Vanilla with a gold button and linen thread as my embellishment and a banner flag from the retired Retro Fresh paper too.

A fun card to wish someone well with their new career path - I love the images in these sets and are so pleased that they aren't leaving the catalogue this year. I'll be back later with this week's Wednesday Weekly Deals - there appear to be some problems at the store currently and they haven't been updated. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Giggle Greetings	Retro Fresh This And That Designer Washi Tape	So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Tangerine Tango A4 Card Stock	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Linen Thread	Gold Basic Metal Buttons

So today I'm sharing a card that I made for this week's Pals Paper Arts challenge, where they have a great sketch for us this week:

The minute I saw this sketch, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. In my quest to use up some of my retiring DSP, I knew that the anchor stamp in the 'Guy Greetings' stamp set would work perfectly with some of the papers in the Maritime DSP set, specifically the navy rope and red anchor paper. I decided upon a 5 1/2" square card and I set to work, although my card didn't quite work out as I initially planned. Let me show you my card and then I'll share the story:

My initial intention had been to use the rope paper as you see above, but flip it for the second section and use the red anchor pattern on the reverse. But after much flipping, trimming and trading of circle mounts for my anchor, I ended up unable to make the patterns work together. They just didn't look right to me and the sentiment banner I had cut interfered with my anchor too much, so I decided to ditch the red and use a plain panel of Night of Navy and heat emboss my sentiment onto it directly in white, leaving my embossed anchor uncluttered and the rope pattern beautifully showcased. As I stood back to admire my handiwork and did a check back to the sketch, I realised that my card is a virtual case of Brian King's Design Team card for the challenge which you can see here - oh dear! This wasn't conscious, although I've shared my love of Brian's work on my blog here before and I am so drawn to his clean and uncluttered style. So I'm hoping he will take it as a compliment and the Pals will allow my linkup as an example of a card truly inspired by a member of their DT this week!

Back tomorrow with a new set of Wednesday Weekly Deals and another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Guy Greetings Photopolymer Stamp Set	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	White Stampin' Emboss Powder
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Circles Collection Framelits Dies

Good morning everyone! It's Monday and I'm here bright and early with not one, but two cards for you today! The first is a chalkboard card using this week's colours over at The Color Throwdown:

I couldn't resist some bright yellow on a Monday morning, so decided to dig out my 'Feel Goods' stamp set and pair it with the sun in the 'So You' stamp set to create the following card:

I used a base of Daffodil Delight and a piece of chalkboard paper, then stamped both the sun outline and the sentiment and heat embossed them in white. I found a small piece of retired yellow polka dot paper in my scrap box and stamped the sun again onto it and cut out the pieces and paper-pieced them onto my card. I would say you could substitute with something out of the current Brights Paper Stack, but since this is on the retiring list and already sold out, you will all need to raid your current supplies for this one! To finish, I added a gel pen line around the edge of my chalkboard and just wiped over the card lightly with some Whisper White craft ink. It adds a cool chalkboard effect in real like, although the photo does just look a little 'untidy' I think! I'm also linking this card up with Diane at Pixie's Snippets Playground since I was good and actually used up some of my scrap box snippets on this card - that so hardly ever happens!

My second card is using the colours over at Colour Q and this week's Cas(E) This Sketch:

I'm still enjoying my re-acquaintance with my aqua painter as a means of watercolouring and when I saw this week's CAS(E) This Sketch I knew it would offer me the opportunity for a little watercolouring behind this sweet bird couple silhouette from the 'World of Dreams' stamp set: 

I stamped both the bird image and the sentiment (from the retired 'Good Greetings' stamp set) in versamark and heat embossed in black - this has a lovely sheen in real life - onto watercolour paper and then using my aquapainter, I picked up the inks in the challenge colours (I substituted Pear Pizzazz for Kiwi Kiss as I don't have this retired colour) and simply coloured in a 'halo' effect behind the silhouette image. I then adhered my finished piece to a base of Bermuda Bay cardstock. I think this will make a lovely anniversary card for my box - my own wedding anniversary doesn't come round again until next February; now that's what I call organised!

Right, that's me done for today - I have some admin to crack on with, dinner to prepare and a large basket of ironing to do - well, at least the sun is shining! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Feel Goods Card:

Feel Goods Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Chalkboard Paper	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	White Stampin' Emboss Powder
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Uni-Ball Signo Gel Pen	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock

World Of Dreams I Love Us card:

Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay
World Of Dreams Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Aqua Painter	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

Yay! It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. We loved your watercoloured creations last week; today the lovely Ann is hosting and she has a sketch challenge for us - and you know how I love a good sketch! This is the sketch layout:

So many possibilities for this great sketch, but I decided that today I had to go with a birthday card for 2 reasons: I have lots of birthdays coming up in the next month, so I need to get into a birthday groove, but more importantly, today the lovely Ann is also celebrating her birthday, so it seemed entirely appropriate. I have sent a card (not this one!) in the post, but I'm not sure she will have received it in time for the big day so I'm playing safe with a virtual one too! I decided to use a piece of Birthday Bash paper as the inspiration for my colour scheme, and paired this with a retiring stamp set, Well Worded:

I used Tangelo Twist for my base and a mat of Bermuda Bay, then used a split layer with Birthday Bash DSP across the top and Whisper White along the bottom. I covered the join with pennants in co-ordinating colours, then stamped my birthday cake in Tangelo Twist with Bermuda Bay candles and cut this out with my Big Shot and Oval framelits, matting it onto a slightly larger oval that I paper pierced using my piercing template. To finish, I added a final sentiment to the bottom corner using the 'birthday girl' stamp from the 'Hooray It's Your Day' set - this set co-ordinates with the project kit of the same name, but is useful for lots of cards and can be used for some fun personalisation - this card could equally be tailored to a 'birthday boy' and you wouldn't even need to change the colours. I stamped a trio of stars from the same set in co-ordinating colours to finish my fun birthday card. 

So before you reach for your paper and inks, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I hope my birthday card puts you in a celebratory mood today - best wishes to Ann for a super day and I look forward to seeing what you make with our sketch this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hooray It's Your Day Photopolymer Stamp Set	Birthday Bash Specialty Designer Series Paper	Well Worded Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies
Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Occasions Paper-Piercing Pack	Paper-Piercing Tool	Stampin' Pierce Mat
Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Bermuda Bay	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive A4 Card Stock	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Crushed Curry

I've had a week of haphazard blogging this week and not much time for making, but today I managed to get a couple of cards made so hopefully that will put me back on track. Today I'm sharing a card I made using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, the first time I've managed to play along in a few weeks:

That long vertical panel offered so many possibilities - I decided it was time to use the wedding cake for the Your Perfect Day stamp set and more of the Something Borrowed DSP for a wedding card:

I went with a base of Blushing Bride, then matted my DSP on a piece of Sahara Sand cardstock, wrapped with some lace trim and Blushing Bride baker's twine. The wedding cake was stamped in Sahara Sand onto Whisper White and matted in the same way. I used a blender pen to add some Blushing Bride and Sahara Sand ink to the image and I split the sentiment into two parts so that it would sit more neatly on my panel. I thought my card still needed a little something, so I added a few tiny pearls - still clean, but just the right finishing touch.

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players where Ann has a great sketch for us to work with. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Your Perfect Day Photopolymer Stamp Set	Something Borrowed Designer Series Paper	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad	Sahara Sand A4 Card Stock	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents	Blender Pens

It's Thursday and that means a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary. This week it's colours:

I'm also using this week's sketch over at Retrosketches for my layout. So I debated long and hard what to do with this colour combination; then I decided I would go with something fun! I used my Life in The Forest set - not inked up in a while and soon to be retired so it seemed like a good opportunity to use it:

I used Soft Sky for my base, then created a little paper pieced scene for my racoon. I used the soft sky paper from the Painted Blooms DSP pack for my sky, then paper pieced my trees from Wild Wasabi cardstock and my racoon from a combination of Basic Grey, Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock. I cut my large word bubble out using my Big Shot and oval framelits, handcutting the speech piece and stamped the sentiment from the 'So You' stamp set. I love the addition of the wild wasabi grass, cut with my fringe scissors, and the Soft Sky Painted Blooms cotton twine, but my absolute favourite part of this card? The addition of the tiny googly eyes to my little racoon:

It brings out the child in me  - so cute!!! Do hop on over to the other designers to see how they have interpreted this week's colours - I look forward to seeing your creations in the gallery.

I will be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Well it's a lovely sunny spring day here in the UK today - what a lovely start to the week! As promised, I have another watercolour for you today - this time using the colours over at Colour Me...! and this week's Paper Craft Crew sketch:

Isn't that a pretty colour palette? I thought these colours were perfect for a soft and pretty, rather feminine card and perfect for some watercoloured roses - take a look:

I used Pistachio Pudding for my base and front, with a layer of Blushing Bride in between, then watercoloured a circle of watercolour paper with a blend of all three colours and my aquapainter, using one of the diecuts from the Artisan Embellishments kit as a stencil. The flower outlines aren't perfect yet I like this - I think it adds to the overall effect. I finished with a pierced border, a Blushing Bride rose cut from the trim that is also included in the kit, a thick baker's twine bow and a flag in rose red and a couple of banners, one of which I stamped with the 'love' from the 'Hello Life' stamp set - a perfect fit and it just so happened to be out on my desk from another project. 

If you would like to recreate this card, don't forget the Artisan Embellishment kit is on offer this week as one our Wednesday Weekly Deals - you can pick one up for just £6.71 and there are lots more bits and pieces in there too, including some rather lovely Blackberry Bliss velvet trim!

I'll be back tomorrow with lots of exciting news - tomorrow is the day that the Stampin' Up! retiring list launches - all of the products that will not be carrying over to the new annual catalogue, including the 2013-15 in-colours will be announced. Many of these products will then be available at a discounted price, only whilst stocks last. So do pop back then to check it out! 

Until then - happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Aqua Painter	Artisan Embellishment Kit	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Circles Collection Framelits Dies
Hello Life Photopolymer Stamp Set	Banner Punch	Paper-Piercing Tool	Stampin' Pierce Mat	Pistachio Pudding Thick Baker's Twine
Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Rose Red A4 Card Stock	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad
Card Stock A4 Pistachio Pudding

It's Sunday - my favourite day of the week! - and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players. Thanks to everyone who joined in with my colour challenge last week - the standard of entries was incredibly high. This week it's 'Clean and Simple' week and the amazingly talented Nance has chosen watercolouring as her theme:

It's been ages since I did any proper watercolouring, so it was nice to dig out some paper, re-acquaint myself with my aquapainter and get painting. I played around with lots of different watercolouring techniques and once I had started, couldn't stop and ended up whiling away a pleasant few hours in my sunny creating a few different cards. Here's my clean and simple creation for today, using this week's sketch over at Pals Paper Arts, although with a little less slant to the horizontal element (hopefully I'll be forgiven for this slight stray from the sketch!):

There really isn't much to explain here: I stamped the daisy from the Bloom with Hope hostess set in Versamark onto watercolour paper and heat embossed it in white, then using my aquapainter and a variety of inks I coloured my image. I adhered it to a base of Daffodil Delight and finished it with a bold Pacific Point blue 'hello' cut using my Expressions thinlits and adhered it using some rolled glue dots to give just a little dimension.

So before you reach for your paper and inks, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

I hope you like my creation - I'm already looking forward to seeing your watercolour cards and projects in our gallery this week. I love the bright colours of today's card, but if it's a little loud for you come back tomorrow to see an altogether more subtle watercoloured card!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bloom With Hope Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper
Aqua Painter	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Tempting Turquoise Classic Stampin' Pad	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad
Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Pacific Point A4 Card Stock	Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Mini Glue Dots	Hello You Thinlits Dies