Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week and as it's the fifth Sunday of the month we have a tic-tac-toe challenge board for you to work with:

I went down the first column of our TicTacToe board with blue/die-cut/heat embossing and decided to use Jen's Freshly Made Sketches layout and make another slimline card that was totally inspired by the fabulous nautical photo over at The Card Concept - take a look: 

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

Sailing Home - I took the inspiration for my 'clean and layered' card from The Card Concept's great nautical inspiration photo this week, specifically the cushion at the top of the photo, with the blue and red stripes on cream. I incorporated these into my design but decided to change out the anchor for the sailboat that features on the central cushion as it fitted better with my sentiment, as I wanted to make a congratulations/good luck for the future-type card. I heat-embossed the large sailboat from the 'Sailing Home' stamp set in white on Night of Navy then diecut it with my Come Sail Away dies. A 'thank you' too to the team over at The Card Concept for choosing this card as one of their Honourable Mentions recently and for their kind comments on a card that felt quite out of my comfort zone but was totally inspired by their awesome photo!

A Beautiful World - For my sentiment I used both the retired stamp set 'Beautiful World' and paired it with one of my favourite diecuts from the retired Summer Silhouettes dies - the long, slimline design is perfect for showcasing the long 'adventure' diecut, which I cut a couple of times and glued together for added height. I also added another stamped greeting from the same stamp set to the inside of my card:

A Cautionary Tale - So I'm sure you are looking at today's card and thinking it came together really quickly; to be fair, if I made a second one it probably wouldn't take long at all. For this one that was not the case though! I spent quite a bit of time deciding on which nautical elements to incorporate on my card and then just as I had everything stuck together, I decided my card needed a little something extra so decided to add a trio of stamped gulls. And that was where the disaster happened! I missed one part of one of the gulls, and then slipped with my stamp-a-ma-jig when I went back in to correct. So what to do? Luckily I managed to remove the top vanilla panel with some dental floss (such a craft room life-saver!) and then I removed the top portion and replaced with another one, with birds correctly stamped before I glued into place. Crisis averted - and let that be a lesson to you: don't glue everything down until you are completely sure your stamping is complete! I do like the addition of the birds though, so it was worth it:

This is one of those cards that I would not have made without the photo that inspired it, but I love it! What do you think? Do you like the current trend for slimline designs? Do leave me a comment 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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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 am looking forward to spending some time in the garden today as we are enjoying some warmer weather here in the UK for a change - it bodes well for our Bank Holiday weekend for sure. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Edited to add: I was the Challenge Winner over at The Card Concept with this card!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SAILING HOME CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)

SMOOTH SAILING DIES (£30.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at TGIF Challenges where they challenging us to use a technique that I don't often feature on my cards:

I did experiment with splatters for my recent technique class featuring the Come Sail Away suite so having been using splatters a little more of late with this set in particular. You can see one of my previous cards here; this is another of the samples I prepared to demonstrate how splattering can be used to create unigue backgrounds: 

On this card I used some Bermuda Bay reinker and blue Brusho on Shimmery White cardstock, covered with scrunched up cling film before leaving to dry and then removed the cling film. I then covered with some splatters of copper shimmer and I added a collage of stamped and diecut bits and pieces from the Come Sail Away suite and some unravelled copper trim to complete my card. I'm not sure this type of card will ever feel natural to me - watercoloured backgrounds and collage-style cards are not my forte, but it's fun to step outside of your comfort zone every once in a while to try something different.

Don't forget to set your alarms for 6pm UK time this evening for your last chance opportunity to order trimmer blades for the discontinued Stampin' Up! trimmer - full details in my previous post here.

We have been busy harvesting fruit and veg from our garden and spent yesterday baking more goodies to eat and for the freezer I hope you enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£9.25)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Ink Refill (£3.50)	1/4" Copper Trim (£5.50)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)
Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Crumb Cake Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I've just got time to squeeze in my entry for the current challenge over at Festive Friday where the challenge is to feature a lighthouse and/or rays on your card:

I did a technique card last week featuring the Come Sail Away suite so have been making lots of lighthouse cards in readiness for this - here's one of them:

I had been doing some experimenting with inked backgrounds and on this card used some blue Brusho on Shimmery White cardstock, covered with scrunched up cling film before leaving to dry and then removed the cling film. I then covered with a liberal spritz of champagne shimmer and I added a collage of stamped and diecut bits and pieces from the Come Sail Away suite to complete my card. No rays of light - I was trying to capture stormy seas behind my lighthouse. This is quite a different card for me - watercoloured backgrounds and collage-style cards are not my forte, but it was fun to create and this is the first time I've used Brusho and really liked the finished effect.

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. 

I have another card similar to this one which I will hopefully share later this week in an alternative colourway.

This is my card for Tuesday so I hope you enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)	Shimmery White A4 Cardstock (£9.25)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Basic Gray A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card using the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches that was also inspired by the current Time Out Challenge:

I went with neutrals and masculine today and with those circles on Kim's sketch offering lots of creative possibilities, I saw ship's wheels in their place - take a look:

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

Sailing Home - I suddenly realised this week that despite having brought this set home with me from Onstage back in May, with the exception of my Make and Take this is the first card I've made with it (a case of new product overload as usual!) I have an upcoming class with this set and a ton of 'works in progress' on my desk, so will definitely have lots more to share in coming weeks. The only stamp I used on today's card is the sentiment - I think this makes a nice sentiment for a male anniversary card, but would also work for a mentor, teacher or coach I think; anyone who sets direction and motivates others.

Come Sail Away Compasses - I wasn't sure that I would use the paper pattern that I featured on today's card with all of those compasses and measuring instruments (there's always one in a pack that goes to the bottom of the pile, right?) so I pushed myself to cut into it and I think with some black accents it adds just enough detail to work on today's card. The stripey pattern on the reverse will definitely be more popular with me, but for now challenge accomplished! 

Smooth Sailing Ship's Wheels - My trio of ship's wheels were diecut using the Smooth Sailing Dies - check out the embossed detail on these, so lovely. I cut them from a scrap of (retired) brushed silver cardstock from my scrapbox and finished the centre of each with a black faceted dot for a little understated bling.

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:

Sailing Home Bundle (£46.75)

Come Sail Away Designer Series Paper (£10.75)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.25)