I know I've been MIA for a few days - last week was one of the busiest in the James household, with music recitals, discos, school productions and carol concerts galore with the end of the school term, so blogging did go somewhat by the wayside. I spent the morning at the pantomime watching 'The Wizard of Oz' and this afternoon managed to squeeze in a little creative time to craft the following card for this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, although I'm too late to link up this week:

I wanted to create a card using a piece of the All Abloom DSP stack - there are some great bold floral patterns in there that suit such a large background. Here is my card: 

I used a sentiment from the 'Hello There' hostess set on the main panel and overlaid a single flower from the same set, along with some retired Island Indigo baker's twine and a single pearl to finish.

So a quick post from me today with a card for all you lovely readers who pop by and comment and bear with me when the odd blog post goes awry - so sweet of you! We are officially on school holidays now - I'm not sure whether that means more or less time to craft though (I know really - definitely less!!) Back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad	Island Indigo A4 Card Stock
Lost Lagoon Classic Stampin' Pad	Lost Lagoon A4 Cardstock	Pistachio Pudding Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Card Stock

It's Wednesday and time for another challenge over at Colour Me...! where this week we have a monochromatic colour scheme for you:

I also used this week's sketch over at Retrosketches for my layout. Now I have to confess, Calypso Coral is a colour I don't use often (I don't know why) but this is particularly unfortunate, given that the last time I ordered a pack I ordered two by mistake and now I have Calypso Coral cardstock coming out of my ears! So today's challenge was the perfect excuse to make a dent in the pile. After much deliberation, this is what I came up with:

I used a piece of the Gold Soiree Speciality DSP as the main feature of my card. This paper has a very luxurious feel and definitely needed to be used where it could be seen! I matted this on a piece of gold foil and a Calypso Coral base. For my sentiment, I stamped 'Hello There' from the hostess stamp set of the same name in Calypso Coral on Whisper White, along with a flower from the same set stamped in Gold Encore ink finished with a candy dot and matted this onto a piece of Calypso Coral edged with the scallop edge punch.

I added a couple of flags of Calypso Coral chevron ribbon and some strings of gold sequins and a gold button threaded with baker's twine as per the sketch and finished the corner with three flowers: two in gold foil punched with the retired flower Itty Bitty Punch and one stamped in Coral on Whisper White where I added detail with my gold pen and this was punched with the Petite Petals punch.

That's my Colour Me...! card for this week - why not visit the other Colour Me...! designers and check out their takes on this week's colour combination:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Gold Soiree Specialty Designer Series Paper	Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Gold Foil Sheets	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Card Stock
Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Calypso Coral 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Gold Sequin Trim	Subtles Candy Dots	Petite Petals
Petite Petals Punch	Gold Stampin' Dazzle Marker

Hello there - this card is for you all! I used the latest sketch at Create With Connie and Mary this week, as I liked the unusual layout:

I'm too late to link up with the challenge, but wanted to share the card with you as it is a little different for me - here's my card:

I'm not sure I've ever used so much Strawberry Slush on one card! I thought the All Abloom papers would be perfect for this kind of paper-piecing and I loved the way that Mary Brown used thick bakers twine across the joins on her design team card here so I decided to do the same on my card. I also added some of the retired ruffle trim in the same colour to edge the patterned panel. Lastly I finished with one of the sentiments from the 'Hello There' hostess set, having first inked the outline with Strawberry Slush and Mossy Meadow markers to frame it and added a simple twine bow.

I really like the combination of Strawberry Slush and Mossy Meadow on this card; the green seems to really balance the vibrancy of the pink, and along with the vanilla and Blushing Bride cardstock makes for a very feminine card, without being too 'pink'.

I hope you like today's card - I'm off to prepare a picnic for an afternoon at the park, do enjoy your day, however you choose to spend it.

Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hello There Clear-Mount Stamp Set	All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack	Card Stock A4 Blushing Bride	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad
Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Strawberry Slush Classic Stampin' Pad	Strawberry Slush Thick Baker's Twine	1-1/4 Inch Circle Punch	1-3/8 Inch Circle Punch