Sunday is always a good day, but it's doubly good when followed by a Bank Holiday - looking forward to tomorrow already! We've had a restful day today after yesterday's busy one and also managed our first BBQ of the year, albeit having brought everything inside to eat as it was rather breezy outside. Today's card uses the colours over at this week's Colour Me...! challenge and Jen Mitchell's clean rectangular sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout:

 I rotated the sketch through 90 degrees to create my card and took my inspiration directly from the photo alongside the colour palette. Here is my card:

I used Soft Sky for my base and layered with a mat of Early Espresso and then a further layer of Soft Sky that I stamped with the Hardwood stamp in the same colour. I created a trellis using two pieces of Early Espresso punched with my Chevron Border punch and made the focal point of my card the cherry blossom from the Morning Meadow hostess stamp set, which I inked up with my Early Espresso and Primrose Petals marker pens then stamped onto Whisper White. I punched some flowers out of Primrose Petals cardstock using one of my Itty Bitty punches, added pearls to the centres and added these onto the stamped image on the largest flowers to add dimension and interest. I then matted this panel onto Early Espresso and added an off-centre panel of Soft Sky - this goes against the grain from a design perspective for me, but I needed to have the Early Espresso mat onto the Hardwood layer, yet broken with some Soft Sky on the opposite side so that the panel didn't just merge into the trellis and it looks so much better with than without, so convention is out of the window! I also chose not to use a sentiment on the front of my card as I didn't want to add another layer; I decided to keep my sentiment on the inside of my card.

I hope you like today's card; back tomorrow with another card. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Hardwood	Morning Meadow	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Chocolate Chip A4 Card Stock	Early Espresso Stampin Write Marker
Primrose Petals A4 Card Stock	2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Card Stock A4 Soft Sky	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Chevron Border Punch
Punch Pack	Basic Pearls Jewel Accents

Today's card is a last minute entry for this week's CAS Colours and Sketches colour challenge, which is to use the following colours:

I also used the above sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch as my starting point, although I would be the first to admit that my card isn't the most literal of interpretations; the card I've prepared for tomorrow's blog post is much better! Here is my card:

I decided to use the Morning Meadow hostess set for today's card - this set will only be available until the end of June, so if it's on your wishlist get in touch with me to book a party soon, otherwise you'll miss it. I inked the branch with my Basic Grey and Primrose Petals marker pens, then stamped the bird in Midnight Muse and fussy cut him and placed him on a dimensional, with a little rhinestone-centred punched flower for added interest. I allowed the tail of my bird to overhang the edge of the card - I think I'll join my card up to Addicted to CAS too, where the current challenge is 'off the edge'.

A quick post from me today; back tomorrow with another project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Morning Meadow	Midnight Muse Classic Stampin' Pad	Midnight Muse A4 Card Stock	Primrose Petals A4 Card Stock	2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers
Neutrals Stampin' Write Markers	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents	Punch Pack	Whisper White A4 Card Stock	Envelope Punch Board

Back again with a creative post today - just in time to share my card for The Paper Players this week, where Anne Marie has this sketch challenge for us:

I decided to use a sheet of the flower patterned paper from the Fresh Prints DSP Stack as the starting point for my card; I love the pattern on this paper, but have been almost afraid to use it as it's so busy. Today I took the plunge - here's my card:

I used a Coastal Cabana base for my card, then matted a piece of Crumb Cake on Real Red and adhered to the base. I used the flower DSP for the main panel and broke slightly from the sketch to put my sentiment on the second rectangular panel, as opposed to the Crumb Cake layer. I stamped the blossom stamp from the Morning Meadow hostess set around it, having coloured it with my Crumb Cake and Coastal Cabana markers, then punched three flowers from Coastal Cabana cardstock using my Itty Bitty Flower punch and moulded them around the end of my paper piercing tool to shape them before adhering over some of the stamped blossoms. I then finished with a Real Red stamped flower from Simple Stems and three red candy dots (I really need these to be sold in packs of red only - I use more red ones than any other colour!!)

I'm quite pleased with the final result - the bold red borders really ground the busy flower pattern I think. I'm also linking this card up with SUO Challenges, where the challenge this week is to use a flower on your card.

Must go - I've grocery shopping to do before I turn in for the night (thank heavens for online grocery stores!)

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack	Simple Stems	Simply Sketched	Morning Meadow	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Real Red A4 Card Stock	Coastal Cabana Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Coastal Cabana	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Crumb Cake Stampin Write Marker
Crumb Cake A4 Card Stock	Brights Candy Dots	Punch Pack	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents