Today I'm sharing a clean and simple card inspired by a couple of challenges:

AAA Cards are looking for designs 'along the edge' with an optional twist of dry embossing and over at The Alphabet Challenge they are on 'I is for Insect'. I embraced all three to come up with a super simple card - take a look:

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

I embossed my panel of thick Basic White with the Greenery embossing folder; it goes off the edge on both sides, but here I just ran it through along one edge. I added a get-well soon sentiment in Night of Navy and to finish could resist a golden bumble bee trinket for my insect:

And that's it - super simple but I hope you'll agree quite effective nonetheless.

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:

GREENERY EMBOSSING FOLDERS (£7.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)

FLOWERS OF FRIENDSHIP CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY 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 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 Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and I am your featured designer this week! This is the fun board that I came up with for us to play along with: 

So many ways that I could have gone with my board this week, but I eventually settled with the first column and wings/leaves/nature as the basis for my card. I was also inspired by the wonderful inspiration photo over at The Card Concept this week in more ways than one - more on that below! Firstly, here's the card I came up with - take a look:

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

Dragonfly Garden - I have a class with the Dragonfly Garden bundle next week so have been working a lot with this set in recent weeks and I thought it would be perfect to create a meadow-style background for my beehive today. I stamped the long florals in a repeating pattern and then blended a trio of yellow inks across my panel, before tearing my edges and adding some additional colour to the flowers with my Stampin' Blends, reflecting the yellow black-eyed susans and the purple florals in the Card Concept photo (leaves and nature on the TTT grid - check!). I also added some outline blooms and a little ink blending to the inside of my card:

A Skep For A Bee - In addition to the florals, I was draw to the skep and the bee-decorated plates in the inspiration photo. Skeps are traditionally made of straw, so I used a retired die from the Detailed Bee Dies set to create an outline, covered it in a self-adhesive sheet then took some retired jute twine and created my very own rustic-looking skep. Of course I couldn't have a skep without a bee - and a beautiful gold bumblebee trinket was the perfect finishing touch (and gave me 'wings' for my grid)! Whilst bee skeps are often seen in kitchen/ceramic/artistic designs, did you know in many countries it's actually illegal to keep bees in skeps? This is because the bees cement their combs inside their skeps and they can't be removed and inspected for diseases. In addition, when the beekeeper removes the honey the bees are either killed or made homeless, which isn't the case with more modern box hives; so keeping skeps as a decorative feature seems much more sensible!

A Change In Style - My regular readers will now that this card is something of a departure from my usual clean and layered style. The ink blending, torn edges, textured dimensional skep and bee make my card much more 'shabby chic' (there are some great design definitions over on the Card Concept website which I highly recommend you check out if you're interested in this kind of thing). So what do you think - did I pull it off? Whilst this is a little different for me, I did have a lot of fun working outside of my comfort zone for a little while.

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DRAGONFLY GARDEN CLING STAMP SET (£21.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)