Well the Bank Holiday didn't bring the sunshine I was hoping for, but it did stay nice and dry and we managed a bracing long bike ride this afternoon, so it's all good! Today I have not one but two cards for you! The first one is my card for the current Fab Friday Challenge where they have a sketch challenge this week:

Before I share my card, a big thank you to the team over at Fab Friday for choosing my In-Colour thank you card as their Fab Fave - I'm honoured! You can see that card here. Now onto today's card:

I'm still on my quest to use up more of my Designer Series Paper (I am such a DSP hoarder!) and this sketch was the perfect opportunity to showcase some. So no 'sneak peeks' today; instead a Daffodil Delight base with some mats in Soft Suede, and two of the patterns in the Park Lane pack. I used one of my favourite retiring thank you stamps, 'One in a Million', for my sentiment, stamped in Soft Suede onto Very Vanilla, and I chose to fussy cut one of the flowers for my accent. I liked the clean lines of this card so much, I made two identical ones - if you are one of my contactable online customers, you may find one winging its way to you to you this month!

My next card is for this week's TGIF challenge:

I saw the inspiration photo and I had my Painted Petals set out on my desk preparing for my technique class next month (this is the set we are going to be using) and I just knew the two would work together. Here's my card:

I used So Saffron for my card base and matted a strip of the already retired Gingham Garden DSP (I told you I was a DSP hoarder!) onto a strip of Pear Pizzazz and adhered this to the front of my card. I stamped the flowers on a large circle of Whisper White cut out using my Big Shot and Circles framelits, inking them with one of the new in-colours, Watermelon Wonder, and adding some Blackberry Bliss using my Stampin' Write marker to the flower centres before stamping. I stamped the sentiment in Blackberry Bliss too and to finish added a few So Saffron flowers, punched using one of the Itty Bitty Accent punches and centred with pearls. I popped this circle up on dimensionals to stand away from the card. 

Please do check out the design team inspiration for both of the above challenges; they are some amazing cards on both blogs this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used (Card 1):

Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock

Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Suede A4 Card Stock

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock

Million & One

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used (Card 2):

Painted Petals Clear Stamp Set	Itty Bitty Accents Punch Pack	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Big Shot Magnetic Platform	Whisper White A4 Card Stock
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad	2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz
So Saffron A4 Card Stock	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

Apologies for my blog absence yesterday - I spent most of the day icing biscuits for teacher thank you gifts as today is the last day of the academic year for my James Juniors. I promise my self I'll start earlier every year, but what always seems to happen is I squeeze in a few more commissions and then also a few extra names get surrepticiously added to the list of thank yous by the children which means even more baking and icing!

I've shared my teachers gifts on my blog previously - you can check them out here if you would like to be reminded - so today I thought I would share a matching card and gift box commission that I made for someone else to give to their teacher. So here is my card:

For my card I used the retired Gingham Garden DSP (this was requested - lucky I still have a pack!) however most of the other product is current and you could easily create this set in an alternative paper without the teacher tag as a thank you gift for someone special. The star of the show is definitely the 'Million and One' sentiment stamp - perfect to show your appreciation of someone special.

Here is the matching gift box - I love these kraft boxes, they are so useful and very sturdy, and at £2.75 for 4 represent great value. I'm doubly pleased that the Extra-Large Gift Boxes have returned and made it into the annual catalogue as a stock item - these are great for larger gifts. 

Right, I've a few more jobs to do before I go and pack a picnic - we're off to see an outdoor theatre production of Peter Pan and The Lost Boys this evening. I've seen this theatre company perform the Railway Children previously, so I'm expecting great things - I'll report back tomorrow! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Million & One	Decorative Label Punch	Kraft Gift Box (4)	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch	Stippled Blossoms Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Card Stock	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad
Night Of Navy A4 Card Stock	Melon Mambo 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon	Crushed Curry 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Whisper White A4 Card Stock