Today I'm sharing a second card that combines a couple of challenges:

The trend in focus over at Just Us Girls is to use a die as a stencil and over at Time Out the challenge is to case a card by the fabulous Michele Ferguson of I Card Everyone. I have been experimenting with stencils - and dies as stencils - quite a bit lately, with varying degrees of success so the JUGS team are most definitely onto something! I had also been playing around with ideas to CASE Michele's beautiful card over at Time Out - if you've never seen Michele's work, you should definitely pay a visit to her blog or look her up on social media - she makes the most amazing creations and is just the nicest person! In an effort to create something that was unique but had a clear nod to Michele's card, I decided to combine both challenges. This is what I came up with:

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

A Floral Heart - I decided that the Floral Hearts Dies that I've used a few times lately might work as a stencil. I used the die to make a stencil, replacing the heart in the centre then using a blending brush with some Polished Pink ink to add ink and fade from the centre outwards. This is what the finished stencilled panel looked like:

I love the effect of the soft, pale pink and subtle stencilled pattern, although it was tricky to capture on the finished card.

Here For You - I decided to add a 'here for you' diecut sentiment from the Here Together Dies to a white heart for the centrepiece of my stencilled card, tucking in a few additional pieces of white diecut foliage behind my heart and a trio of iridescent rhinestones to finish:

With an alternative sentiment this card would work for a variety of occasions, including a wedding or anniversary I think.

To 'CASE' - I've talked about it here before, but the expression to 'CASE' or Copy And Share Everything' is really about using someone's work to inspire you to create something unique with a nod to the original in a variety of ways. When looking at Michele's original card, I retained the white heart as a focal point with a white-on-white sentiment, and used a combination of pink and white foliage/florals around the outer edge of the heart. Whilst there are similarities, there are also aspects of my card that are unique, such as the ink and stencilling. Side by side, my inspiration is clear - but I also created something that has its own sense of individuality too. I'm not sure that my card does Michele's justice, but it was a fun exercise!

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 evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at Festive Friday. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)

HERE FOR YOU DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)

BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and YoonYoung has asked that we include a trio of shapes towards the bottom of our panel and overlay with a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I thought I'd get a little practice using my new skin tone Blends and feature the 'heart hands' from the 'Here Together' stamp set - take a look:

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

I stamped and coloured my hands with SU900 and SU1000 Stampin' Blends and diecut them using my Here For you Dies, adding an arch of colour to my white cardbase before adhering them to my card. I stamped my sentiment in Versamark onto vellum and heat embossed it in (retired) Lovely Lipstick embossing powder, before wrapping this around the hands on my card and adhering on the reverse of the panel.

My card is a rather creative take on this week's sketch, with the hands representing the two outer shapes and the heart that they make the smaller central one. A vellum strip for my sentiment allows the hands and heart to remain visible, whilst also adding a pop of colour from the sentiment itself. By keeping the design to the lower portion of the card is a great way to preserve 'white space' and a clean, uncluttered feel. I'm also linking my card up with the team over at CASology, where the current theme is 'affection' - my teenage son is much more likely to make this sign with his hands than he is to kiss me these days, but he assures me it is a sign of affection so I'll take it! I'm also linking up for a second go with the lovely ladies over at Just Add Ink with another minimalist design.

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:

HERE TOGETHER BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)

STAMPIN’ BLENDS LIGHT COMBO PACK (£8.25)

VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

A new day, a new month and time to tell you about some new product too - the All Together Collection! In the words of Stampin' Up!, "loving hands and heartfelt words are the best way to show you care. With hand designs that illustrate coming together in friendship and solidarity, the All Together Collection will help you create cardmaking and paper-crafting projects that reflect the people you know and love."

The All Together Collection includes early-release products from the 2022–2023 Annual Catalogue—an exciting new range of natural Stampin’ Blends—and exclusive products you can’t get anywhere else! While the Natural Tones Stampin’ Blends are an early-release product from the 2022—2023 Annual Catalogue, the collection’s additional products are exclusive and only available while supplies last. Encourage them to shop early to ensure they receive the entire collection!

Here's a video from the lovely people at the Stampin' up! home office that shows the suite in more detail:

See the product details on the flyer below for more information, or to purchase from my online store I've included the clickable shopping links at the bottom of this post.

I have some great projects to share in the coming weeks that showcase these new naturals Blends markers and they will also be featuring in my upcoming March class that features the 'In The Moment' stamp set. This online class is scheduled for 21st March 2022, 11am-1pm - please get in touch for more information or to book your place. 

Equally, if you love the whole All Together Collection, you might like to consider joining my Stampin' Up! team and ordering it as part of your start kit - for just another £1.25 you could receive an additional £31 of product AND 2 free stamp sets of your choice - along with all of the wider benefits that come from being part of the Stampin' Up! family. If you'd like to know more, then please get in touch - I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

Back later with today's creative post for this week's colour challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches; until then, happy shopping!

ALL TOGETHER 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	HERE TOGETHER CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	HERE FOR YOU DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)	HERE TOGETHER BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.75)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS LIGHT COMBO PACK (£8.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM LIGHT COMBO PACK (£8.25)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM COMBO (£8.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (£8.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (£8.25)	NATURAL TONES STAMPIN’ BLENDS COLLECTION (£41.25)	ALL TOGETHER SUITE COLLECTION (ENGLISH) (£97.75)