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 across the bottom with floral, embossing and stitching and took the opportunity to work with the current Color Hues palette of peach and kraft and decided to try out a fun technique that I saw on Instagram recently - take a look:

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

Graffiti Art - I saw a reel on Instagram recently by the New Zealand demonstrator, Jacque Williams, where she created a fun graffiti art-style card and I really wanted to give it a go! It's actually not that tricky to do: you choose your background wall colour (I used Crumb Cake) then ink one side of your Bricks and Mortar embossing folder before inserting your card and running it through your Big Shot machine. This gives you your inked 'cement' lines and the base onto which you then stamp the rest of your design. Simple! This embossing folder is great for this technique and makes a great background too. I can't believe it's retiring - if you don't have one, I'd seriously consider adding to your collection whilst you still can!

Floral Art Gallery - I chose to add some bold florals for my wall art, using the large bloom from the Art Gallery stamp set, with a Pale Papaya base and top layer of Calypso Coral for some pretty peachy florals, and I stamped the stems in a neutral brown. I also added some splatters in Crumb Cake randomly across my wall to add to the artsy feel.

Art Gallery is another stamp set I haven't used in ages but is leaving us with the current outgoing annual catalogue. I'll be keeping mine though - these florals are a no-brainer and the simple block sentiments are so useful with all kinds of cards, not to mention the large diecut sentiment in the set too. Pale Papaya is leaving too - so get yours now whilst you still can!

Tailormade Tag - I finished my card with some Crumb Cake baker's twine and a tiny tailor made tag with a simple thank you sentiment. I am sending this card to a dear customer of mine who loves a messy card - mixed media and grunge are totally her thing, so I know she will appreciate my attempt at getting even close to her signature style!!

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. You should definitely check out the design team's cards this week too - they are amazing!

Enjoy your day; I'm hoping to get a few cards made today in between errands and laundry. I'm hopeful to be able to use the washing line today, as right now it's a lovely bright and breezy day. Not sure I'll be still in luck by the time the washing machine cycle has finished - we are experiencing proper April showers here in the UK at the moment. The constant to and fro the washing line is definitely keeping me fit though! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (9.50)	ART GALLERY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (8.40)	TAILOR MADE TAGS DIES (21.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PALE PAPAYA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (6.75)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	CRUMB CAKE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Planting Day' which is on 20th March. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used flowers, green, brick and bugs/insects and this is what I came up with:

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

Quiet Meadow Honeybee - This card is something of a departure from my usual style, as I don't tend to go in for collage-style stamping, but I think the images in both the 'Quiet Meadow' and 'Honeybee Home' stamp sets really lend themselves to this style. I used a Bumblebee coloured cardbase and added some tone-on-tone stamping in the same colour, along with some bees and splatter in black and used a blender brush to add colour to the outer edges. I also stamped a single flower on one circle, and for my main focal point I used my markers to add a buttercup in Bumblebee with a Just Jade stem. I also added a little extra collage-style stamping to the inside of my card: 

Layers and Textures - This card is all about textures and layers. In addition to my stamping, I added layered circles and diecut flower stems to build up my design. The circles were a combination of hive embossed gold vellum, some embossed brick and some (retired) Harvest Meadow designer series paper, along with a few in-colour enamel dots. This give lots of visual interest, despite the limited colour palette. 

A Trinket To Finish - Even though I added stamped bees to my background, I couldn't resist adding a gold bumblebee trinket to my stamped circle focal point:

A sentiment from the 'Honeybee Home' set completes my card. So what do you think? Not my usual style, but I had a lot of fun putting it together and stepping outside my comfort zone for a while. I've had a head cold this week and have definitely found myself being drawn to yellow - I think I've subconsciously been cheering myself up! It's also perfect for the current challenge over at The Alphabet Blog, where they are on the letter 'X is for xanthic' - which apparently means 'relating to the colour yellow' - who knew?! I am a bit of a logophile (that means lover of words if it's not a word you are familiar with) so I am delighted to add this one to my collection!

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 - out this week
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

QUIET MEADOW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	HONEYBEE HOME CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	HIVE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge:

A favourite technique - how fun! I decided to choose inlaid diecut technique as one of my favourite techniques to share with you today and decided to have another crack at the inspiration photo over at The Card Concept, this time with a clean and layered card (you can see my earlier clean and simple entry here in case you missed it). I was totally inspired by the greenery and pink flowers of that beautiful heart and the texture of the white brick wall behind and where better to turn to demonstrate the inlaid diecut technique than my trusty Floral Heart Dies - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Floral Hearts Dies and Inlaid Diecuts - I cut out the main heart from a piece of green ink-washed watercolour paper and added some additional pieces of foliage as the basis for my heart wreath, then used the separate flower dies to cut out the flowers in both Melon Mambo and Flirty Flamingo. Before brushing out the pieces from the petals of the flower outlines, I carefully used some Press 'n' Seal to lift the pieces out in the same position. I then adhered the outline pieces to some scrap cardstock, and carefully inlaid the alternative colourway into the outline pieces. This gives a selection of two-tone flowers with all pieces intact. I love to use just the outlines of these flowers, but think they look really pretty with their infills too. This technique is quite fiddly with small pieces, however is really easy when larger diecuts are involved, such as the new Tropical Layers Dies, for example.

Textured Brick - I used the Bricks and Mortar 3D embossing folder to add texture to the base of my card; this is a great way to add detail and interest to plain white cardbase.

My Heart Is Tied To Yours - Finally, in addition to some pearls and a simple double bow, I added a banner with my favourite sentiment from the 'Eden's Garden' stamp set:

Is that not just the nicest greeting someone can see when they open a card? I think so. My card is already in the mail to someone who has been having a tough time lately and I'm hoping when she reads this it will truly warm her heart and let her know I'm thinking of her.

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 Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)	EDEN'S GARDEN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

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

I resisted the urge to go with something punny today and instead used Narelle's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the basis for a cluster of wildflowers to attract my solitary bee - take a look:

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

I added a recessed panel featuring a piece embossed with the Bricks and Mortar embossing folder and used this as the backdrop for my trio of wildflower/grass elements courtesy of the Meadow Dies. Two of these I cut out of coloured cardstock and the third I sponged to create a cornflower-inspired bloom to attract my golden bumblebee trinket:

I added a sentiment from the Quiet Meadow stamp set to a banner piece that is included in the Meadow Dies set to complete the outside of my card. I also added a little more stamping to finish the inside:

I hope you like my shiny bee as much as I do! We look forward to seeing your bee creations, but remember this is 'clean and simple' week so ensure your cards have: 

• minimal layers
• little to no embellishments
• lots of clean white space (minimal pattern)

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:

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; the weather has been absolutely scorching here in the UK this last few days, so there's unlikely to be much crafting done today as my office becomes a furnace from about 11am onwards! I will definitely be taking it easy and enjoying it whilst it lasts! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

QUIET MEADOW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. YoonYoung is hosting this month and today we have a colour challenge: 

For my card today I decided to go with some triple-step stamping and a sunny yellow rose for a cheery Easter card - take a look:

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

To A Wild Rose - I'm not sure I've used this set on my blog before, but the 'To A Wild Rose' stamp set has some wonderful blousy blooms, that have great dimension just by layering colour - perfect for clean and simple cards. I used each of the challenge colours to create my layers, stamping off the third layer of both the leaves and the petals in order to get the depth of colour with only 3 inks.  

Bricks and Mortar - Over at Just Us Girls this week Bobby has asked us to embrace the trend of embossing folders. I decided to use a So Saffron card base so that I could use a white circle embossed with the Bricks and Mortar embossing folder to highlight my yellow rose. I'm sure there will be some wonderful and creative uses of embossing over in the JUGs gallery, but in an effort to keep things clean and simple I used a simple punched circle of texture on my card:

 Sometimes less is more I think!

Blessed Easter Wishes - I love the font of the large 'Blessed' stamp in the 'To A Wild Rose' stamp set, which works beautifully with the other friendship-themed sentiments included. I used a little creative licence and heat-embossed it in gold before I paired it with some other stamps from the super-versatile 'A Wish For Everything' stamp set to create my Easter greeting, which you can see in more detail below:

Do you ever combine stamp sets in this way? I love that with lots to choose from, the possibilities are endless! I also added a trio of sparkly enamel dots - I just couldn't help myself!

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; I have a date with the ironing pile but will be back later with a quick post about something very exciting that's happening tomorrow! I'll be back later! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TO A WILD ROSE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)	WILD ROSE DIES (£32.00)	A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£36.00)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)