It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The lovely Jaydee is the hostess this week and as it's the fifth week of the month she has a fun tic tac toe board for us to work with:

I decided to go across the bottom row - pink, leaves and flower - and took the opportunity to create a card with a modern collage feel, a little different to my usual style. Take a look:

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

So In Love Watercolouring - I heat embossed the large flower from 'So In Love' onto Shimmery White cardstock and used my aquapainter and a variety of pink inks to watercolour it. When dry, I added a liberal brush of clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. I used the same outline flower for some tone-on-tone stamping and added some white diecut leaves.

Bits And Pieces - I love collage-style cards, but find them such a challenge to create and have them look natural! I gathered lots of bits and pieces - ribbon, sequins, doilies and a wooden flower - and set to work. I also gave my finished card a liberal flick of Wink of Stella - you can't see the shine on the photograph, but this card is oh so pretty in real life!

Freestyle Collage - So the trick with this kind of freestyle collage card is to somehow take an eclectic selection of items and bring them together into a cohesive design. This card took me longer than it should have, as I was very considered with my elements, however I'm really pleased with the result - a lovely, feminine card that would work for a variety of different occasions. I am also linking up with the ladies over at SUO Challenges today with this card where there theme is 'all that's feminine'.

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with our tic tac toe board this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a long one as tomorrow is a Bank Holiday here in the UK, so we are all enjoying the extra day that comes with a public holiday - let's just hope the weather stays fine! I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

So In Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Aqua Painters	Silver 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Natural Trim	Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock
Pink Pirouette Classic Stampin' Pad	Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad	Sending Love Embellishments

A two-post day today! This year's Sale-A-Bration promotion and the launch of the Stampin' Up! 2016 Spring-Summer catalogue is today and you can get the full scoop here; for today's creative post I am sharing a card that we are making in my technique class this month. Our class is using the 'Awesomely Artistic' stamp set and looking at collage techniques. This is one of the cards we made and it features one of my favourite new products from the new catalogue for adding a touch of sparkle to your projects - take a look:

The glimmer on the dragonfly's wings is tricky to capture on a photograph, but I can assure you in real life they have a beautiful golden shimmer! The Wink of Stella Glitter brushes are the perfect tool to add sparkle and shine to your projects. There are two different pens on page 24 of the new Spring-Summer catalogue and we used the gold one on this card. We used the clear brush on our other two cards; I'll share these another day. 

My February technique classes will feature the beautiful Bloomin' Hearts Thinlits Die and the co-ordinating Bloomin' Love stamp set. If you live in or around Northampton and you would like to join me for crafting enjoyment with like-minded individuals, please do get in touch for more details. We had a new lady join us today for the first time so if you're reading this, a big hello to you Fran - I hope you enjoyed yourself as much as we enjoyed your company and look forward to seeing you again soon.

I have another full day of classes today; I'l be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gold Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush	Awesomely Artistic Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Big Shot	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock	White Stampin' Chalk Marker	Expressions Natural Elements	Sahara Sand 7/8" (2.2 Cm) Lace Trim
Metallic Foil Doilies	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits Dies	1" Circle Punch