Happy Monday everyone! I am feeling much better this week and having managed to squeeze in a little crafting time on Saturday I have lots to share with you. I was fully intending to share this quick clean and simple card on Saturday, but didn't manage to squeeze in a post due to the need to make sure I was ready in good time for yesterday's Paper Players post - oh the busy life of a blogger! I want to link up with the team over at Casology before this week's challenge closes so this is a little extra post today. Monday's scheduled post will follow shortly!

So the challenge over at Casology this week is 'Doodle'. I've been having fun playing along over there in recent weeks, seeing where the cue card takes me creatively. I also really like the way their Design Team define their cards with what makes them 'clean and simple' or CAS - very useful if you've ever wanted to understand more about what makes a great CAS card. So having pondered this week's cue, I decided on this doodled sentiment for my card for the challenge:

Such a simple card: the sentiment from 'Big News' is stamped in Black Archival ink on Whisper White, adhered to a black mat and then popped up on dimensionals on a Melon Mambo base. I infilled the spaces of my 'awesomeness' sentiment with my Melon Mambo Stampin' Write marker and added a little clear Wink of Stella for a touch of sparkle, but that's it. the restricted colour palette keeps it clean and simple and allows the doodled sentiment to shine.

Melon Mambo is one of my favourite SU! colours and chose to make this card as a card that I would love to receive. Whilst I have recently achieved a significant business goal that I had set myself, I'm not going to send myself a card (that would be weird right?!) Instead I will be sending this to one of the many young people I know who are sitting GCSEs this year when they receive great results, as I know they will. So one for the stash!

Here's the visual summary of the products needed to make today's card for easy reference:

Back shortly with today's actual post. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big News Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Brights Stampin' Write Markers	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock

Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made for a dear friend of mine, who is celebrating her birthday tomorrow (I'm safe to share here, as she doesn't follow my blog although I will need to make sure I don't post it on Facebook until tomorrow, just in case!) I used this week's sketch over at the Paper Craft Crew for this card and this week's Colour Throwdown colours:

This is one of my favourite colour combinations,  so it was an obvious choice for this card. You see the recipient is not only a good friend of mine, but we are 'birthday buddies' - we both share the same birthday! So the card is send often the image of the card I would like to receive and features lots of my favourite things! Would you like to see my card? Here it is:

A simple card in bold colours, with a distinctly starry theme. I randomly sponged same-colour stars using my mask onto the Melon Mambo card base and edged this in a piece of Daffodil Delight that I had first embossed with the stars embossing folder. I then stamped my main birthday sentiment onto the central panel and mounted this onto a piece of Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I stamped and fussy cut two candles from the same 'Big News' stamp set and adhered these in place of the two squares on the sketch (a liberal interpretation, but it fitted with my theme!!) and replaced the flames with two stars punched from the new Confetti Stars punch and finished these with a couple of rhinestones, coloured to match with the corresponding colour of Blendabilties marker. I then added a flag with the second piece of my sentiment, stamped in white Stazon on Pumpkin Pie cardstock, using Dimensionals. To finish, I added three small punched stars to the upper right hand corner of the main sentiment panel.

Hope you like today's birthday card - it comes with a happy birthday to my friend Louise for tomorrow and a little happy birthday to me!

Rebecca and I are off to London today to see the musical 'Mama Mia' as part of the birthday celebrations of one of her school friends, so we are sure to have a fun day. Back tomorrow with this week's Design Team post for The Paper Players; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Big News Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Lucky Stars Textured Impressions Embossing Folders	Confetti Stars Punch	Hearts & Stars Decorative Masks	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad
Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad	Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock	Pumpkin Pie A4 Card Stock	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Pumpkin Pie Assortment