Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge:

So many ways I could have gone with this one! I loved the row of brightly coloured tulips across the bottom of the current inspiration photo over at HandStampedSentiments and the bright green backgrounds on the two pictures above so I thought I would create another card full of spring blooms with this week's sketch - take a look:

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

Artistry Blooms - I saw this background on a card by Tami Hewlett recently (you can see Tami's card here) and I loved the effect so was keen to re-create it. I've played around with reverse ombre before, using the Sale-A-Bration Oh So Ombre papers but as today's card shows, the Artistry Blooms paper in the annual catalogue also has some great ombre patterns that you can have some fun with too. I've featured some of the other colour combinations from this pack previously, but this yellow through green piece is the perfect backdrop for some spring flowers I think. 

Timeless Tulips - I chose to feature brightly coloured spring tulips on my card; I simply stamped and punched a whole bunch of them, along with leaves, and built them up behind the cross panel, where I chose to feature my sentiment:

 I had a couple of leaves and tulips left over so I added those the the inside of my card too:

Magnolia Memory Border - Aside from adding a sprinkling of dew-like faceted gems and some gold sparklies too, the final detail on my card is the Magnolia Memory border die that I used along the base of my inner rectangle for added interest and detail.

I know this card has an Easter sentiment and this occasion has already passed this year, but it was the perfect fit for my rectangle and I figure it's one off my list for next year - you can never be too organised!

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.

I am busy with laundry and household chores today. With one of the James Juniors back to school following the recent break, I have only one at home. Unfortunately today he is definitely behaving like 'Kevin the Teenager' from that infamous Harry Enfield sketch: as I move from room to room, he grunts then slopes off in search of peace elsewhere - he is clearly not in helpful mood today! So back to it - enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TIMELESS TULIPS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	TULIP BUILDER PUNCH (£17.00)	MAGNOLIA MEMORY DIES (£29.70)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (£7.00)
GILDED GEMS (£6.50)

It's Monday and to start the week I have a short post to share a couple of cards I made with this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout:

They are both encouragement cards, this time with the optional addition of pink, perfect for the current Time Out challenge. One of my cards also features an ombre background which is the trend over at Just Us Girls this week. Here's the first one:

And here's the second one, featuring another of the papers in the Artistry Blooms paper pack: 

Both cards feature a wonderful encouraging sentiment from the 'Ridiculously Awesome' stamp set, that is rather appropriate today as I am headed off for shoulder surgery. I am putting all my faith on my surgeon, that's for sure!

So which one is your favourite? I love them both and will be making a few more with these papers this month whilst they are on offer in the DSP sale :-)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

As the winds howl and the storm clouds threaten here today in the UK for the second day running, I'm here with thoughts of sunnier days and tropical vacations for today's card! My card was inspired by the following challenges:

That fabulous surfboard in the Inspired By photo is so eye-catching that it totally got me thing of tropical summer beaches and sunsets, so armed with the Inspired by sketch too and the Festive Friday inspo list (I used pink, circles, diecut and summer fun from the inspo list) - I created my dream summer landscape - take a look:

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

Friendly Silhouettes - The palm tree dies form the Friendly Silhouettes dies gave me the perfect palm tree pair for my card. These are actually the negative space of the die, so I carefully kept the diecut and used it as a template to piece my palm branches into the correct place to make my scene.

Artistry Blooms - I decided to reach for my designer series papers for my sunset and chose one of the patterns from the Artistry Blooms stamp set. I chose my piece carefully and I can't quite believe how much like a sunset it looks; just what I had in mind and so much easier than creating one with a brayer! 

A Little Added Sparkle - After adding my sentiment to a couple of layered punched circles and popping it up on a dimensional, I looked at my card and felt like it needed a little something more. I reached for a few pots of sequins and carefully went through and chose a few in co-ordinating pinks and oranges and added them randomly across my card, for a little tone-on-tone sparkle. I love the finished result - you can see it better here:

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. We have a day of tasks and errands today, nothing too exciting. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDLY SILHOUETTES DIES (£30.00)	FRIEND LIKE YOU PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (EN) (£20.00)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that is totally fitting for the current Color My Heart Color Dare colour combo - this challenge is celebrating it's 400th challenge, although this is a new-to-me challenge and this is only the second time I've played along (the first time was #399!)

My card is for a special celebration too - a certain member of the James household recently celebrated her 15th birthday and as anyone who has been reading my blog for a long time knows, she usually has some exacting requirements as far as her birthday card is concerned! Here is my finished card:

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

Rainbow Glimmer and Artistry Blooms - Like me, the minute Miss Rebecca saw the rainbow glimmer paper she fell in love with it - and wanted me to use the green, blue and purple hues for her card. I punched a whole bunch of balloons from this glittery paper, added an epoxy dot to highlight each one and tied each one with some silver thread tied with some retired two-tone ribbon to create my bunch. They really are so pretty and sparkly in real life! I paired them with a co-ordinating ombre paper from the Artistry Blooms pack for the perfect backdrop.Check out all that sparkle and dimension:

Everything Amazing - I'll be honest, I wasn't sure what to combine my glimmer paper with; Master James came to the rescue with his '3 word' game. He suggested we choose 3 words that describe Rebecca that we should then try to incorporate into her card. One of his words was 'amazing' - which led me to the now retired 'Everything Amazing' stamp set. This set dates back to June 2019 and is now but is one I never got to use whilst it was current, so it was good to be able to give it an airing. It's also perfect for Retro Rubber this week since anything goes! I heat embossed the main sentiment in silver then infilled the words in Night of Navy.

And For The Inside - I created a customised inside with the super-useful Family Party set and perfect for special, personalised greetings:

I'm glad to report Rebecca loved her card so another successful birthday card challenge achieved!

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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	ARTISTRY BLOOMS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BALLOON BOUQUET PUNCH (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)
WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)