It's Wednesday and time for this week's challenge over at Colour Me...! where we have a striking palette for you to work with this week:

This week's colours put me in something of a quandry: I am completely into Christmas makes at the moment, but these colours really weren't shouting Christmas at me, not even in an unconventional sense! I also considered a fall/autumn themed card, but in the end decided to make a card to add to my 'ready to go'stash that could be used for a number of different purposes.  So here's today's card:

I used this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout and the hostess set 'Hello Love' which has the cute little birds in it and decided to make a clean 'collage style' card using the various images in the set and creating some subtle layering of the various elements. I used my Night of Navy Stampin' Up! Blendabilities pens to colour in the bird and also to colour in the words 'hello love' which would otherwise be on the cloud, as I wanted my sentiment to be contained within the word bubble. This is such a fun set as it comes with a number of possible second sentiments, so that you could make the card into a number of different types of congratulations card. I haven't actually stamped the inside, although I think I might add the birthday sentiment as this card would make a fun card for my nephew's birthday next week (according to my daughter!)

So what do you think? Feel free to leave a comment on today's card, before hopping over to check out the amazing cards by the rest of the Colour Me...! team:

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello Love Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Regals Designer Series Paper Stack	Tangelo Twist Classic Stampin' Pad	Tangelo Twist A4 Cardstock	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad	Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Night Of Navy Assortment	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Hearts Border Punch

Today I was all set to share the card I made for this week’s challenge over at The Paper Players, where Nance has this great sketch for us to work with:

But before I get to my card, there is an exciting news announcement over on the Paper Players blog today involving yours truly: I have been asked to feature as one of their guest designers, starting July 6th - how great is that?!

I am excited and truly honoured that this wonderful bunch of papercrafters have asked me to join them for a three month period through to September. You can check out the details and the other guest designers that will be featuring at the same time by clicking on the link here and you will of course be able to see my weekly submissions right here on my blog in weeks to come.

Anyway - back to today's card! I love a good sketch challenge and Nance's sketch can be used in so many ways. Given that we are transitioning between catalogues, my choices for my card today were driven by the (relatively!) fewer stamps that I currently have in my collection and also a desire to use another piece of Designer Series Paper that hasn’t yet made the cut – here’s my card:

I decided to use the ‘Oh Happy Day’ stamp from the Starburst Sayings stamp set and wanted to use the bold black and white zebra-like pattern from the Kaleidescope DSP set; this layout allows for the use of a bold patterned paper without it overwhelming the rest of the card. Black and white alone was a little stark for me though – but I had the perfect antidote with a burst of Melon Mambo, a great hot pink to liven things up a bit! I used the black and white DSP for my central panel, matting this on a piece of Basic Black and then a strip of Melon Mambo, before adhering to my Basic Black card base. I stamped my sentiment focal point in Versamark on Basic Black and then heat embossed in Melon Mambo, which adds great texture and sheen, and cut out using the co-ordinating framelit. I then popped the starburst onto a Melon Mambo circle cut with my Circle Framelits using dimensionals to give added depth. I also decided this card was worthy of some serious ‘bling’ and adhered small rhinestones to each of the circles on the word ‘happy’ – this made this card so sparkly! To finish, I added two small banners cut with framelits as per the sketch, finished with a Melon Mambo button and a few extra rhinestones for good measure.

I think this card has a real ‘rock chick’ feel to it and would be great for an uber-cool teenager; I have a very discerning teenage niece that this card will be perfect for and as her birthday isn’t until October, I guess that makes me look super organised too – win, win! Or I could just send it to myself since today is indeed a happy day, given the announcement that I am going to be a Paper Players Guest Designer - yay! Decisions, decisions....

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin’!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper	Starburst Sayings Clear-Mount Bundle	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock	Circles Collection Framelits Dies
Banners Framelits Dies	Magnetic Platform	Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy
Heat Tool - Uk Plug	Brights Designer Buttons	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents