It's Thursday and today's card is for a couple of challenges: 

I used the colour palette over at TGIF Challenges (love those colours!) and the new sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for a birthday card to pay homage to a favourite retiring stamp set and some of my most favourite ever dies - take a look:

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

Happiest of Birthdays - I used the big sentiment from 'Happiest of Birthdays' front and centre - the size of this greeting really makes a card, with nothing more than some decoration required.

Farewell Pierced Blooms - For said decoration, I used my Pierced Blooms Dies to cut some flowers and leaves and layered them to decorate both the outside and the inside of my card, where I also used another of the sentiments in the set:

Finishing Touches - A strip of contrasting Brights designer paper, some 'retired) sparkly enamel dots and a pair of tiny brushed brass butterflies add some final finishing touches:

Some of my favourite retiring products today though, both of which will be 'keepers' for me; it's not all sad though - I'm sure there will be some great new ones arriving soon!

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

I've had a super busy day today but I managed to squeeze in a quick 30 minutes of crafting earlier to whip something up for Linda's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I've just time to quickly type this and link up under the wire:

I was intrigued by the wide open space and those small circles/dots and having spent best part of the last week mulling over my options this is what I eventually found time to make - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

 Whilst the sketch is a guide to be interpreted, I decided to 'stay small' with those dots and use them to showcase the pretty in colour Loose Flower Flourishes in the new catalogue. I paired them with some Fresh Freesia gingham from the Pansy Petals DSP pack and an oldie-but-goodie sentiment from 'Dressed to Impress', which I diecut with one of the new Scalloped Contours Dies and stamped in another of the new in-colours, Polished Pink. I also added a little ribbon behind and another pair of those flower embellishments - how pretty are they, right?! 

Since the front of my card was (relatively) understated, I went big with my sentiment on the inside and chose this one from 'Happiest of Birthdays':

This card was quite quick to put together, which was perfect since I was so strapped for time. It felt good to make just enough time to get it out of my head and onto paper - do you ever feel like that?

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 for this week's CAS Colours & Sketches challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOOSE FLOWER FLOURISHES (£7.00)	PANSY PETALS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	DRESSED TO IMPRESS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (£33.00)	POLISHED PINK 3/8" (1 CM) OPEN WEAVE RIBBON (£6.50)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)

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

This week's challenge is all about polka dots - how fun! Remember it's clean and simple week too, which means:

• Minimal layers
• Little to no embelllishments
• Lots of clean, white space (no pattern)

I was considering my options as far as polka dots are concerned and actually made a couple of cards for you today: the first one uses the 'Lots of Hearts' bundle from the current mini catalogue - take a look:

These hearts are just perfect for today's challenge as they have both a stamped polka dot and a die that creates a heart shape from diecut polka dots. I paired these with an outline heart and used the sketch over at Inspired By this week for my layout, along with coral, peach and lemon yellow as my three neighbouring colours from the Color Dare challenge wheel (see badges above). With some polka dot DSP behind, there are lots of dots on my card, whilst still retaining a CAS feel:

I also added a few more inside, with a continuation of my sentiment in the corner to allow lots of space for uninterrupted writing:

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. 

I did create a second card for today's challenge, using the sketch layout over at Fab Friday:

When I think 'polka dots', I immediately think Minnie Mouse (no apologies from this Disney fan!) so I couldn't resist another card with some punch art featuring the second most famous mouse of all time:

I went unashamedly pink with this card, using the Stitched with Whimsy dies to outline my rectangle and added a fussy cut sentiment from the 'Happiest of Birthdays' set to finish:

This is my favourite of the cards that I created this week - so simple, but super cute!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOTS OF HEART BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£44.00)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)	HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)