I've had a busy Bank Holiday weekend and not managed to find much time for blogging but now it's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Laura is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

I wasn't sure what to do with this week's colours, then I saw the challenge over at AAA Cards where they have a fun 'follow the leader' CASE challenge and I was inspired! I grabbed my new Party Alphabet Dies and set to work; this is what I came up with:

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

I retained the vertical design and went with a modern block sentiment to create a thank you card with a clean, masculine feel. I colour blocked the diecut letters with strips behind, then added a trio of thank you sentiments - a perfect card when you need something a little less feminine - and another great way to use those Party Alphabet Dies! Here's the card turned around so you can read the sentiment more easily:

I really like this design - I might have to have another play with those letter dies and the vertical element - so many creative possibilities!

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:

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£8.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	THOUGHTFUL WISHES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host again this week as Stef and I had a swap around to accommodate our respective vacation plans. It's Clean and Simple Challenge Week and this one has a fun theme chosen by Stef too:

Things that fly! Lots of options here and whilst I don't have much in my current collection of stamp sets that fit the bill, I knew exactly where I was headed with this one and when I saw Kim's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches it was just perfect for me to put my ideas into action! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Busy Bees - I chose a bee as my 'things that fly' for today's card - specifically, the little bee in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set. I stamped him all over a white panel and coloured in his yellow stripes with Daffodil Delight Blends markers, followed by a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to add shine to their wings. Here's a close up of my full panel as I was constructing my card:

Play On Words With Party Alphabet Dies - Having decorated my panel with bees, I promptly covered much of it up! I diecut a letter 'B' from a panel of Basic Black using my new Party Alphabet Dies - have you seen these on page 86 of the new catalogue? These are larger than life and great for scrapbooking and card making alike and yes, I have lots of alphabets - now I have another one in my collection!! I used the negative space of the 'B' on my card, so that my buzzy friends could be seen through the aperture (remember to keep the two pieces from the inside of the letter too!):

How fun is that?! I paired my 'B' with the word 'happy' to make the sentiment 'B/Be/Bee Happy' - do you see what I did there, with my fun play on words?! This 'happy' was from the 'Friends for Life' stamp set and I chose that one because I liked the font, but you could use the 'happy' in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set too as an alternative.

A Philosophical Message - I finished the inside of my card with another simple, yet profound sentiment:

With everything going on in the world, it is easy to take a less than positive view; sometimes we need to be reminded that happiness is a choice and one that we, as humans with free will, can make for ourselves each and every day. Even though it can be hard, happiness is ours to cultivate through our thoughts and actions and when we cultivate it for ourselves, it is easier to spread joy and share those feelings with others too. On that note, here ends today's post!

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:

Enjoy your day; I shall be spending mine with my nearest and dearest who make me happy - and hoping that the youngest of the James Juniors is not feeling too worse for wear following last night's hockey club dinner - especially since he has to sit his second A level Economics paper tomorrow! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BLACK STAMPIN' DIMENSIONALS COMBO PACK (£6.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I've designed my layout with a narrow vertical border and sentiment across the wide panel. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to make a card that showcased the greenery diecut in the Mixed Florals bundle - the one that was hidden by all the flowers on Sunday's card (you can see that card here if you missed it):

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

There are three things that each have a significant role to play on today's card:

The Mixed Florals Diecut - The detail of this diecut deserves to showcased in all its glory once in a while - and today's card is it!

The Oxidised Copper Designer Paper - This paper, with its beautiful copper foil highlights, is really lovely and works best when it is allowed to take centre stage; so a border and the diecut itself allows it to stand out against the Pretty Peacock cardbase, whist still retaining a clean and simple feel.

Thinking Of You Sentiment - This sentiment comes from one of my favourite sentiment sets, 'Friends For Life'. I love the combination of typeface and the shine of the embossed copper and it's just the right size to balance the diecut:

Just the sentiment for this week's 'YOU' word challenge over at Just Us Girls this week too; I can't quite believe I've managed to join in with each of their challenges for the last three weeks - I must be on a roll!

The only other thing to mention is that I used one of the Everyday Arches Dies to diecut my sentiment label; this is the first time I've used one as a label rather than an arch, but it just goes to show how useful these are. A few copper sequins complete 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. 

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:

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (7.00)	OXIDIZED COPPER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.50)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (12.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)
PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where we have a sketch challenge designed by Deborah:

This is a great sketch with so many creative possibilities! I decided to use up some of the diecuts from my Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack for my card today - take a look:

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

Wildflower Birthday - The Wildflower Birthday Specialty Designer Series Paper is so beautiful. In addition to the beautiful foiled patterns, there are two whole sheets of diecuts that are useful for so many cards. I used a trio of flower clusters for my card and used the colours to tie in the other elements.  

Perennial Postage - I added each of my floral clusters to a diecut square cut with the Perennial Postage Dies, to which I'd added a hint of coordinating ink with a blending brush to lift it from the base. You can see that hint of colour more closely below:

Party Dots - I finished my card with a scattering of coordinating party dots and a sentiment from the 'Friends For Life' stamp set and left the inside blank as I want to use this card to write a longer message.

This card came together pretty quickly once I'd decided on which diecuts to use. I spent longer switching out pieces and trying to decide, than I did making it - with so much to choose from in the Wildflower birthday pack, I was spoiled for choice, for sure!

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	PARTY DOTS (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Nancy has asked that we create a mini slimline card with any shape as the focal point:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I chose a sea turtle from the stamp set of the same name as the focal point for my mini slimline card - take a look:

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

I stamped my sea water bubbles in Azure Afternoon, overstamped with a couple of shoals of Calypso Coral fish and added a turtle that I fussy cut and popped on dimensionals:

A simple 'miss you' sentiment from the Friends For Life' stamp set completes my card. A simple stamps, ink and paper make for today - a quick and easy 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. 

Enjoy your day; I'm meeting a friend for a long-overdue catch up, which will be nice. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEA TURTLE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (20.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

I've been playing more with my Thankful Garden bundle and since The Flower Challenge are asking for pink florals this month, I went pink to create a clean and simple card for the current 'friends' challenge over at Addicted to CAS too:

I'm also linking up for a second time over at Just Us Girls since 'friend' is also their word of the week and at Festive Friday where I chose pink, glossy dots, ink blending and words of encouragement/kindness from the inspo list. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I kept things simple, this time stamping my flower directly onto my cardbase before stencilling to colour. I paired one of the sentiments in the set with a layered diecut 'friend' from the Friends for Life bundle to change it up a little: 

 A trio of enamel dots complete my card. I really like this card - these stencils really are great!

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 evening and I'll be back on Friday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDS FOR LIFE DIES (ENGLISH) (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

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

I decided to focus on one stamp set and two colours, courtesy of Color Dare, and create a clean and simple card with something of a collage feel - take a look:

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

Stamped With Love - I used the largest Perennial postage die to cut my mat and I couldn't not use the 'Stamped With Love' stamp set this week - the postbox was just perfect for this week's theme! I heat-embossed the post box onto Real Red cardstock and paper-pieced the letter and separately stamped the letter and pen before adding my sentiment. 

Top Tip - I have a great tip when you are fussy-cutting images without a white border, as I've done today: if you run the edge of a Stampin' Write marker around the cut edge, it will give you a lovely solid black line and disguise any less than perfect cutting. you're welcome :-)

A Hint of Pink - To balance the red of my postbox and diecut heart, I stencilled a pale pink heart using a stencil I made using the Friends For Life dies and added a stamped heart to the back of the postbox letter. I finished the rather quirky sentiment on the inside of my card and added another couple of pink hearts to decorate:

This rather understated love note will be perfect for the youngest of the James Juniors, who will appreciate the sentiment. My layering may be stretching the bounds of clean and simple slightly this week, but I tried to balance my collage-style design with plenty of surrounding white space and no embellishments. What do you think of today's card? 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 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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STAMPED WITH LOVE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE DIES (ENGLISH) (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

I had a super crafty day yesterday so I have a quick extra post with a couple of cards I made using some sketch challenges that are closing today:

The first is a Christmas card that uses the sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches and is a no-stamping-at-all card - take a look:

I used a diecut wreath from the A LIttle Bit Festive speciality paper pack (I used the offcut to decorate the envelope) and a foiled diecut sentiment from the Joyful Sayings pack. A few metallic gems and a simple gold twine bow were the finishing touches that complete my card:

My second card is for the challenge over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge; I haven't managed to play along there in a while but since they are celebrating their 600th challenge sketch I had to play along. Not only that, the sketch was perfect for another zentangled circle creation featuring the Full Of Life designer series paper - take a look:

I added a panel of paper and a birthday sentiment from the 'Friends For Life' stamp set, separating the two with a black and white gingham ribbon bow:

A few black enamel dots complete my card. This card is heading to my nephew for his upcoming birthday - I think he will appreciate the modern design (the bow maybe less so!)

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects 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 evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A LITTLE BIT FESTIVE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) MIX & MATCH SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.50)	JOYFUL SAYINGS MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (9.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	ADHESIVE-BACKED METALLIC GEMS (8.50)
FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge from the fabulous Heather C:

I don't mind admitting, I struggled with this one! I tried a few things but found combining all of the elements a challenge - but I guess that's kind of the point, right?! In the end it was the inspo photo over at Inspired By that unlocked things for me - take a look:

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

Oxidised Copper - I used a panel of Oxidised Copper paper, a gorgeous warm metallic, for my card base. Although I've mostly covered it with my embossed strips, its beauty still shines through. This ticked off both warm tones and metallics. 

Leaf Fall - I decided to make a feature of my dry embossing, so embossed a panel of Early Espresso with the Leaf Fall 3D embossing folder and then cut it into strips, over my oxidised copper panel. I chose this darker brown as I liked the contrast and warmth of those blankets in the Inspired By photo and wanted to evoke that in my fall card. I love the detail of those embossed leaves! Embossed texture - tick.

 Final Copper Touches - I added my sentiment from the 'Friends For Life' stamp set to a tag diecut using one of the Greetings of The Season Dies - these are so useful! - and heat embossed it in copper. A snippet of retired copper ribbon tied with some dark brown baker's twine and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it tiny retired copper pinecone that I found in my stash completed my card and allowed another nod to that Inspired By photo:

Tag and thinking of you sentiment - tick and tick. Recipe complete! So what will you cook up with this week's challenge ingredients? Do share your projects in our gallery and show us your makes!

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day; I'm off to tick off some chores in the hope of a little crafty time over the weekend. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LEAF FALL 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	GREETINGS OF THE SEASON DIES (30.00)	OXIDIZED COPPER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.50)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)
VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

Nancy's colours are all from the Neutrals family and whilst I like each of them, I'll confess I struggled to know how to use them effectively together. So I decided the best thing to do was keep it simple - take a look:

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

I still had the Friends For Life bundle out on my desk having made Sunday's card, so decided to choose 3 elements - a sentiment and two diecuts - and created a simple layout making a feature of the structured leaf stem and added a trio of Blackberry Bliss enamel dots to complete my card:

Turns out I actually rather like the finished result - sometimes less really is more, 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 '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 and I'll be back tomorrow with news of the new mini catalogue. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDS FOR LIFE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

TRANSPARENT ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (7.50)