Today I'm sharing a card that is a 'sneak peek' of one of the cards that I am making with the lovely ladies signed up form my 'Daffodil Daydream' online card class that is taking place next week; I used the great sketch over at Sunday Stamps for my layout, so am linking up with their current challenge. Here's their sketch:

And here's the card that I made using it as my starting point:

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

Daffodil Afternoon - I knew I wanted to use this particular design of Daffodil Afternoon designer series paper as my background. Bold designs on dark backgrounds can be intimidating, so I chose it as I wanted to give my class attendees ideas how to use them. Taking advantage of the split panel and choosing the lighter colours for both the card base and mat layer both serve to lighten this pattern. Lots to love about this paper pack, but most of all - it's FREE with a £45 purchase during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion! If you buy the Daffodil Daydream stamp set and die bundle, this makes a great free product choice to accompany it as it co-ordinates beautifully.  

Daffodil Dies - And so onto those Daffodil Dies! There are lots of die pieces in this set but they go together really easily when you know how. We will be going through that in class, so it was only right that I make up a couple of flower heads and use them to decorate my sentiment label. I cut them from colours that matched the daffodils on the paper, then added some ink with a blender brush to each piece to bring a little more depth to the colours. 

And A Beautiful Shape - Finally, I did start out with a circle shape as per the sketch, albeit I then layered it with my sentiment label and daffodil heads almost covering it up! You can see that circle. courtesy of a new die in the Beautiful Shapes set, a little closer on the photo below, where the debossed detail can just about be seen:

I know this die is one I'll be using lots; the added detail makes it a nice centrepiece. It's no stitched circle, granted, but it is a nice alternative!

I'm looking forward to making a version of this card in my 'Daffodil Daydream' online card class next week. I have lots of other classes and events planned in the coming months - if you would like more information, then do get in touch - I'd love you to join me!

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 have been granted a free pass on the school run this afternoon, so am fortunate to be getting a little extra crafting time (I might even make a head start on tomorrow's chores too!). I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAFFODIL DAYDREAM BUNDLE (£51.25)	DAFFODIL AFTERNOON 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)	PIERCED BLOOMS DIES (£34.00)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PEAR PIZZAZZ A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PALE PAPAYA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am hosting this month and this week it's my second colour challenge of the month and I chose some fresh, spring colours to create with: 

For my card today I used the layout over at Paper Craft Crew and created a frame using two offset layering circle dies to highlight a single daffodil stem that I coloured with Blends in each of the three challenge colours:

The daffodil is one of my favourite spring flowers (along with tulips!) and I couldn't resist the new 'Daffodil Daydream' stamp set and bundle as a result. I stamped the detailed border from the same set for my horizontal element and finished off with an Easter sentiment and a trio of Daffodil Delight sequins that I found in my embellishment stash. The flower is so easy to colour and the co-ordinating Daffodil Dies make it a cinch to cut out perfectly:

This is a great set if you are new to colouring and want to give it a try as you only need a couple of colours to start off with and the flowers themselves won't take too long to complete. I love to colour and having had so much fun colouring the stem for my cardfront, I decided to stamp another one on the front of my envelope too - no naked envelopes here today!

Whether you are new to colouring or it's your passion, I have another great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today that is all about using Blends markers - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day; it's super frosty here so no more excuse needed to run indoors on the treadmill and keep warm and craft until it's time for the school run! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DAFFODIL DAYDREAM BUNDLE (£51.25)

LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a seasonal clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Winter animals - so many options! I decided to dig out a rather neglected stamp set of late and using Judy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and very much inspired by the snow and blue tones over at AAA Cards  set to work on my clean and simple card - take a look:

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

 I diecut a circle from my white cardfront and added a piece of Beauty of the Earth paper with a watercoloured blue behind and stamped some bushes and twigs in Versamark across the aperture and heat embossed them in silver. I then also stamped and fussy cut a leaf branch and arctic fox, heat embossed them both in silver then added some shading with my Smoky Slate Blends, before finishing with a sentiment from 'timeless Tulips' and a sprinkling of sequins. You can see the detail on the fox and the shine of the metallic slightly better below:

A quick reminder to all of you playing along over at The Paper Players this week, in addition to the theme of winter animals, it is more importantly 'clean and simple' week. What does this mean?

• minimal layers and embellishments
• clean, white space

 I liked this card so much I made another one, mirroring the sketch and using the arctic rabbit as the focal point:

 I used a different sentiment on this one - this one comes from the new 'Honeybee Home' set - but I like this card just as much as the fox. Again, you can see the shine and detail slightly better below:

Since my second card also uses this week's colours over at Just Us Girls of white, silver and light blue, I'll be linking it up there.

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. 

And one last photo of both cards together - which one do you prefer? I like them both and it was nice to give this stamp some love again.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; having spent yesterday outside in the freezing fog watching the oldest of the James Juniors play hockey whilst hubby went to watch the youngest do the same (fun games and wins all round, so that helped!), we are all looking forward to a day indoors enjoying the warmth today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

NATURE'S BEAUTY CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)

BEAUTY OF THE EARTH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)

SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our first challenge this year over at As you See It where it's time for a sketch challenge designed by the lovely LeAnne:

A short and sweet post from me today as I've a lot on so need to make it brief. I decided to use one of my Sale-A-Bration freebies for my card today - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Today's card features the pretty 'Friendly Hello' stamp set and co-ordinating papers - one of the co-ordinating bundles that can be yours free as part of the current Sale-A-Bration promotion with a £90 purchase. The line images of the stamp set co-ordinate with the florals and spring colours of the papers perfectly. I left my stamped bird image black and white and coloured the circle behind with my Pool Party Blends to give the same effect as the background papers and added a fussy cut heat-embossed sentiment, with some sparkly ribbon and black enamel dots to finish. The shimmer from the ribbon seems to almost reflect the blue, don't you think?

I usually struggle with a diagonal, but my card for today came together quite easily. The black, white and Pool Party colour combination is also perfect for the Color Dare challenge of neutrals plus one colour of your choice so I'm linking up today's card there too.

If you would like to snap up this bundle of products for FREE, just place an order for £90 or more in my online store before the end of February. Gotta love free craft products!

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

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

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDLY HELLO BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	MATTE BLACK DOTS (£6.50)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am the featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the first column with Winter/Sentiment/Circle and made a simple wintry thank you card - take a look:

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

Wintry Blues - The Beauty of the Earth designer papers contain lots of wonderful leafy images featuring trees and greenery and I used lots of them during the autumn in particular and I have been wanting to create something with this beautiful blue and grey watercolour-inspired pattern. I didn't get the opportunity to incorporate it into a Christmas card, but thought it would made a lovely centrepiece for a simple wintry thank you. 

A Surprise Sentiment - When looking for the right sentiment for my card, I came across this one that was perfect - and actually from a set that couldn't be further from the winter season. Do you recognise it? It actually comes from the 'Sweet Ice Cream' stamp set. I thought it would work just as well with a frosty scene, paired with a simple 'thank you' on the inside of my card from the same set. What do you think? Always worth perusing the catalogue - you may be surprised what you will find. Have you ever made any other unusual stamp and paper pairings? Do let me know in the comments below - I'd love to hear about them!

A Subtle Sparkle - Finally, honestly, too difficult to see on the photo, but I brushed each of the watercoloured trees with my clear Wink of Stella brush for an oh so pretty subtle sparkle. I also added a single rhinestone to my heart for a more obvious shine:

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at The Alphabet Challenge blog where they are currently on 'T is for Trees'. 

Enjoy your day; I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEAUTY OF THE EARTH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	SWEET ICE CREAM PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PICTURE THIS DIES (£32.00)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I want the sentiment to be the main feature of your card:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I was inspired by those fabulous bright colours on the peacock in the Color Dare challenge photo; with a nod to the colouring on the feathers I sponged a trio of Magenta Madness, Highland Heather and Coastal Cabana onto my butterfly 'Amazing Silhouettes' stamp and used it to accent a simple layered diecut of the word 'amazing' from the co-ordinating Amazing Thanks Dies set:

I couldn't wait to get my on these dies - I love a good sentiment die! - the stamp set was a free gift to all demonstrators who attended the recent Stampin' Up! Onstage event and I think they compliment each other beautifully. The butterfly is also the perfect image for CASology's challenge this month where the cue word is 'renew' - the transformation of the humble caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly is a great example of this.

Would you like to know how I created that blended colour on my butterfly? I have another great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

AMAZING SILHOUETTES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	SPARKLE & SHINE SEQUINS ASSORTMENT (£6.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and she has a fresh colour challenge for us to work with:

Anne Marie's colours feel like a breath of spring this week! I used Amy's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches, grabbed my dies and some patterned papers and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

Floral Squares - I decided to feature the Floral Squares Dies on my card today, which dictated the size of my shapes in relation to Amy's sketch (I used a horizontal as opposed to vertical layout for this reason). I used two of the four floral designs in the set, and cut each one out three times - once in Just Jade, once in Calypso Coral and once in white, also cutting the flower heads separately in Calypso Coral. I carefully snipped various elements out of each one and layered them to achieve my finished frames, with the flower heads applied last to slightly overlap my white frames.

A Trio of Patterns - I used three different patterned paper designs in the challenge colours for the squares/rectangles across the centre of my card - can you guess which packs each comes from? The first is from Hand Penned, the second from the new Abstract Beauty papers and the final one from the You're A Peach paper pack. Each has a spotted design; this unifies the patterns/colours and avoids the panels appearing too 'busy'. 

Finishing Touches - I used white as a neutral to unify the various elements of my design and as a finishing touch also added an in-colour gem and a neutral linen thread bow to my single flower frame:

I love Calypso Coral and I am really pleased with how today's card turned out - what a great colour combo this week Anne Marie!

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. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at The Paper Craft Crew where the theme this week is 'anything goes'. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; I am looking forward to a quiet family day - nothing special planned. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALL SQUARED AWAY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£41.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	YOU'RE A PEACH 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	HAND-PENNED 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday and this week we are celebrating something very special:

Our 100th challenge - woohoo! Whilst you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion to play along - your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project - this week's list is sure to generate lots of celebratory cards!  This week I really went to town with the inspo list; I used celebration, numbers, gold, sequins, patterned paper and splatters (I even included a cake on the inside!) and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

A Special Party Puffin - I decided to add a puffin from the 'Party Puffins' stamp set as the focal point for my card today, but a special celebration definitely requires a special puffin, so this one is dressed to impress! I heat embossed him in black, colouring his beak and feet with gold Wink of Stella and fussy cutting him a hat from gold glimmer paper with black jewels for added pizzazz! This little fella is so sparkly! 

Two Reasons To Celebrate - You may be wondering why when we are celebrating our 100th challenge at Festive Friday, why my card has 50s on it. Well, later this year I will be celebrating a milestone birthday - my 50th, to be exact. I was the oldest in my year at school so will be the first of my school peers to reach this momentous occasion; what this means though is that starting in September I will be needing a large number of 50th birthday cards to send out during the 12 months thereafter, so I thought I'd start making now so that I was prepared! I created a fun faux-embossed star by cutting a bunch of 5s and 0s with my Playful Alphabet Dies and adhering them to gold foil, before cutting a star with my Stitched Star Dies to create a subtle nod to this birthday milestone:

I thought this would make a good masculine card design - what you do think?

Gold, Gold and More Gold - With a solid black background, I majored on gold to give this card birthday bling: gold foil, gilded gems, gold glimmer paper and a touch of black and gold (retired) striped designer paper, along with some subtle gold Wink of Stella splatters on the base of my card (difficult to see on the photos, but so sparkly in real life!). I also added a gold-on-black heat-embossed sentiment; and along with a simple birthday greeting inside my card, a birthday cake topped with gold icing and sparkly candles: 

So what do you think - a suitably glamourous sparkly birthday card to celebrate a milestone birthday alongside our milestone challenge this week? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

I am also playing along with Color Throwdown (I used black, white and gold) and over at Try Stamping on Tuesday where they have a great sketch this week - and of course I'm playing with the optional theme of 'celebrate' too.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PARTY PUFFINS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	STITCHED STARS DIES (£35.00)	PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

It's Tuesday and time for our first challenge of the year over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I have the pleasure of hosting you all this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

I chose some fresh pastels with a pop of bright poppy red for my palette this week. These colours can be used in lots of ways; for my card I decided to create with one of my favourite cute sets from the new Stampin' Up! January-June 2022 mini catalogue that launches today and went for a fun Valentine's card - take a look:

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

Playful Alphabet Pun - I created a fun, punny sentiment for the front of my card using my Playful Alphabet Dies, adding a popped-up stitched heart to the centre of my 'O' for a burst of colour and fun focal point. You may well be wondering where my Highland Heather is making a feature, since it doesn't feature on the front of today's card; that corner of my co-ordinating envelope gives you a clue... 

You Make My Heart Go Beep - ... yes it's on the inside! I chose the sentiment on the front of my card to co-ordinate with this cute little robot, complete with heart, from the new 'Nuts & Bolts' stamp set - a collection of fun little robots that you will definitely be seeing more of! I stamped him in the corner of my card and added a complimentary sentiment:

Isn't he just the sweetest?!

Tuesday Tip - Would you like to know how I got those letter dies so perfectly aligned on the front of my card? I have a great tip that I'm sharing in my Crafty Owl Creatives customer Facebook group today - why not pop over and take a look? If you're not already a member, click here to find the group and request to join - everyone is welcome and it's the place to share projects, ask questions and where I share lots of tips and tricks. 

By becoming a member of my Facebook group you can be sure you will receive all of the news that I post to social media and more and you will be much more likely to see everything that I post when I post it, rather than it being lost in your social news feed. I look forward to seeing you there!

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£36.00)	NUTS & BOLTS CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	STAMPIN' BLENDS COLOR LIFTER (£4.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - I thoroughly enjoyed my festive break with my family and much-needed crafty down-time and today I am officially back to it with my first blog post of the new year. It's Sunday so I'm back with our first challenge of 2022 over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Ann to host this week and she has a theme challenge that is perfect for this time of year:

Add a little sparkle - what a great way to see the new year in! I chose glimmer paper as my sparkle of choice and also used the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the starting point for today's layout. My card has it all today: something current, something new, something retired and something free! Take a look and see if you can work out which is which:

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

Something Current - There are a couple of notable current products on today's card: my favourite rainbow glimmer paper that I used for my diecut rainbow, along with some of the yellow Ombre Glimmer Paper along with one of the Tasteful Labels Dies that I used to diecut my sun. I just love the shimmer and sparkle!

Something New - I made my glimmer rainbow using the new Brilliant Rainbow Dies that will debut in the upcoming January-June mini catalogue that launches next week. These are so fun! They also have a co-ordinating stamp set called 'Rainbow of Happiness' that I used for my sentiment and to add some extra detail to the inside of my card:

Something Retired - I used a retired Textured Clouds Embossing Folder to add some additional cloud detail to the panel behind my focal images - I haven't used this EF in ages but thought it worked quite well here for some added textural detail.

Something FREE - The final element to today's card is a sneak peek of some free product - the cloud at the end of my rainbow comes from the Sunshine and Rainbows Designer Series Paper - just one of the products that can be yours free with a purchase of £45 during the first Sale-A-Bration promotion of the year that also begins on 4th January. These papers are gorgeous and co-ordinate perfectly with the Rainbow of Happiness Bundle - and everyone loves free product, right?

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

You can see all of my 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 - including the work of our three new guest designers for 2022, Cindy, Christy and Jennie:

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 the day at my mother-in-law's building flat-pack furniture today - wish me luck! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)

TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)

OMBRE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£9.25)

RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)