Today I have a second post for you in addition to my Festive Friday post: this time with a card for the new challenge over at CAS on Friday where I am the Guest Designer this week following my previous win in their sketch challenge (here's that winning card if you missed it). The theme for the new challenge is 'butterflies'; take a look at what I came up with:

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

Beautiful Wings - I haven't featured butterflies on a card for some time, however the Beautiful Wings Dies have been sitting on my shelf for some time so this was the perfect opportunity to get them opened for their first outing! There are a ton of dies in this set, both for individual detailed diecuts like the one on today's card but also one single die that cuts out all of the stamped images in one go from the co-ordinating 'Butterfly Brilliance', along with a number of dies that are great for adding diecut splatter and brick detail. If you're thinking of adding butterflies to you collection, the Beautiful Wings Dies are worth a look!

Colour Inspiration - I took inspiration for the layout for today's card from this week's Global Design Project sketch #GDP342 but the colours for my 1cm vertical strips (I added two pieces of each colour for subtle additional depth) were inspired by something else entirely: the new Glossy Dots Assortment on page 143 of the new Stampin' Up! Annual Catalogue. Always a fan of an enamel dot (or three!), I couldn't resist adding these to my shopping basket. Each pack contains the four colours on today's card, and includes dots in three sizes, which you can see more closely on the photo below:

Isn't that shine just gorgeous?! I can see many more packs of these in my crafting future ;-)

Heartfelt Congratulations - Finally, the sentiment on today's card comes from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' stamp set in the January-June mini catalogue. Featuring lots of sentiments in this fun, handwritten-style font, it was perfect for a final touch of whimsy to today's card.

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; mine will be full of chores unfortunately but they have to be done at some point, right?! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BRILLIANT WINGS DIES (£41.00)	GLOSSY DOTS ASSORTMENT (£7.50)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Jeanne is hosting this month and this week it's a colour challenge: 

I don't know why but these colours really threw me for a loop this week! I spent an age working out how best to use them together on a clean and simple card. In the end I decided to grab some new and as yet unused dies from my shelf and this is what I came up with: 

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

Today's card features the new Sporting Event Dies. I actually bought these because there are some great ticket dies in the set, although as I was looking at them I thought I could layer them to make a simple pennant. I added some stars (another useful die in this set) and a diecut #1 button that I popped up on dimensionals:

I added a fun sentiment from 'Happy & Heartfelt' and paired that with another one on the inside, along with a reverse button using the leftover pieces from the front of my card:

This will come in useful when the youngest of the James Juniors (hopefully!) passes his next piano exam. I'm hoping that it might encourage continued practice and playing too, but I won't hold my breath on that front!  Despite the challenge of these colours, I've decided I quite like this colour combo. The rest of the team have made some fabulous cards with it so be sure to check them out! 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPORTS EVENT DIES (£25.00)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today I have two posts for you! First up I'm sharing a card inspired by a few challenges:

The team over at Just Us Girls have 'lucky' as their word of the week. When I think 'lucky', four-leaf clovers and black cats come to mind, so I'm also entering today's clean and simple card over at Addicted To CAS where their codeword is 'feline', with green and gold being the only colours to feature outside of the black and white neutrals - perfect for my second entry over at Color Hues, this time with the colour scheme they originally intended for the current challenge. I also used the sketch and silhouette combo over at AAA Cards for my layout. That sounds like a lot of inspiration, but my card actually came together really easily - take a look:

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

I went on a hunt through my current stamps for a four leaf clover as I often do at this time of year, and when I came across my 'Flowers of Friendship' set I had a flash of inspiration: I could use the co-ordinating Flowers & Leaves Punch to make a stencil! I think I am becoming a little stencil-obsessed of late!! Anyway, I made a couple of small stencils using both this punch and a tiny four-leafed retired Itty Bitty Punch, cutting out stems by hand. I masked off a circular shape and then stencilled my clovers in randomly using a sponge dauber and some Just Jade ink. I added a punched black cat silhouette on dimensionals and added a gold twine bow detail:

My 'lucky me' sentiment is from the 'Happy and Heartfelt' stamp set and completes on the inside of the card with 'I have you'. A clean and simple card to let a friend know how lucky I am to have them! How does the word 'lucky' inspire you? Do let me know in the comments below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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; I have lots of jobs to do today so mine will be a busy one! I'll be back later though with my card for the new challenge over at TicTacToe this week. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	CAT PUNCH (£17.00)	FLOWERS & LEAVES PUNCH (£17.00)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

This is my second card for today, again using the 'Driving By' stamp set that I made with a few challenges in mind:

It uses the current Color Throwdown colours and is most definitely a clean and simple take on the codeword at Addicted to CAS this week which is 'Hearts' - and it's another vehicle for the 'V is for Vehicle' challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge blog. I was inspired by a few clean and simple cards that one of the Stampin' Up! Artisans had posted on Instagram that used white ink on a kraft cardbase, so decided to take the fun open top sports car from 'Driving By' and replace the oval balloons with some heart-shaped ones - take a look:

The car and sentiment is stamped in white kraft ink and not heat-embossed, hence the paler appearance (in hindsight, I think I should maybe have used my Stamparatus to get a stronger image - I'll remember that next time!) I used the heart stamp from 'Here Together' and stamped the heats onto the ends of my freehand strings, adding highlights and some dots between the tiny stamped hearts with my chalk marker (these tiny hearts are from the 'Rainbow of Happiness' stamp set). I coloured my trio of hearts using my dry watercolour pencils in Cherry Cobbler, Melon Mambo and Flirty Flamingo to allow for some grainy shading: 

My sentiment is from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' stamp set and I finished with a freehand squiggly frame and some linen thread.

So what do you think? This was a bit of an experiment for me as I rarely use Crumb Cake as a base, but I do like the way it really highlights the three pink hearts. Besides, it's always fun to try something new - especially when the stamp was a freebie to boot! Yay for free products and Sale-A-Bration - you have until the end of the month to get your hands on yours!

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:

DRIVING BY CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	UNINKED STAMPIN’ PAD & WHISPER WHITE REFILL (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN' CHALK MARKER (£3.25)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS (£15.00)
WATERCOLOR PENCILS ASSORTMENT 2 (£11.75)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	RAINBOW OF HAPPINESS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

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

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is Valentine's Day which is on February 14th. 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 pink, romantic sentiment, hearts, watercolour and aperture and this is what I came up with:

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

I decided to create a Valentine's card using a combination of both paper and pre-cut pieces from the Abstract Beauty Ephemera pack, based around the gold and white frame and watercoloured heart, layering them onto my cardfront until I was happy with the balance of elements. I added some black adhesive-backed hexagons and gold twine bow and finished my card with a fun sentiment from the 'Happy & Heartfelt' set, stamped in Magenta Madness to match my cardbase and fussy cut:

I added another sentiment from the same set and an offcut strip of paper to decorate the inside of my card to finish: 

I really like that this card with its modern, rather eclectic, feel - a change from the more traditional red and pink, hearts and flowers - although I still have some of those to share with you too! I'm linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us for Valentines-themed projects too.

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
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James - you are here!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)	ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	ADHESIVE-BACKED HEXAGONS (£7.00)	HAPPY & HEARTFELT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)