It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Deborah is hosting this month and our second challenge of the month is a colour challenge: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I wanted to play with a new stamp set that I hadn't yet broken the seal on - Coneflower Celebrations. The challenge was really to keep things clean and simple - especially as I'm playing along over at Inkspirational too (with the optional twist of flowers)! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Coneflower Celebrations - Coneflower Celebrations features some larger-than-life coneflower blooms, so in order to maintain a clean and simple feel, I dispensed with a stem on this occasion and simply stamped my flowerhead (I used Early Espresso as my neutral as I thought it was softer and toned in better than black) and coloured my bloom with Flirty Flamingo Blends markers, adding some Lost Lagoon leaves. 

Then There were Three - I only used two of the challenge colours for my bloom; the third colour, Pool Party, I added with a blending brush to the corner of my card, having first masked off an outer 'frame'. This allowed me to ground my flower, rather than it look like it was just floating. I added a trio of embellishments - Flirty Flamingo enamel dots - for a little sparkle - perfect for the challenge over at The Flower Challenge too:

Even on a clean and simple card a few well chosen embellishments can be enough to elevate a card from something plain to something special. 

Birthday Greetings - In addition to the beautiful floral stamps and dies, the Coneflower Celebrations bundle also contains some great sentiments. I used a simple 'Celebrating you!' on the front of my card - finishing with this one on the inside:

Yes, I needed a belated birthday card for a dear blogging friend whose birthday is today. This is the second of my friends whose birthday I've not remembered in a timely manner this month - I  am clearly distracted! This sentiment is lovely for sending belated birthday wishes though - I hope I'll be forgiven and it will raise a smile when my card finally arrives at its destination! I do love this new Coneflower Celebrations stamp set - so you can look forward to seeing lots more fabulous blooms where this one came from!

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:

CONEFLOWER CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LOST LAGOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As You See It where it's time for a seasonal theme challenge chosen by Heather H:

Having made this card for my paper Players DT card last Sunday, I knew that I was going to go a similar route for today's creation, given that there was an empty picnic scene in the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper pack that was just waiting to be filled - take a look:

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

These Turtle-y Cute papers are so fun, especially if you like fussy cutting! I simple added the scenic background to my card base, then decorated it with a whole bunch of fussy cut elements:

My turtles are enjoying a picnic of ice-cream and watermelon; even the birds are getting in on the action! I finished with a sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Picnic With You', which suited my scene perfectly. These little scenes are so fun to build, but I have used so many dimensionals this week - I am definitely going to need to add more to my next Stampin' Up! order! 

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.=
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Deborah is hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

You'll notice a theme to my cards this week - they all feature turtles! Take a look at today's card:

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

I elongated that oval and featured another of the turtles fussy cut from the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper, this time the gardener turtle, and paired her with a die cut sentiment from Sweet Blooms and a co-ordinating strip of designer paper from a retired pack that co-ordinated:

I stamped the remainder of my sentiment on the inside of my card, along with a little DSP accent and flower, to complete my card:

Simple! I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS On Friday where the current theme is 'animal', so my turtle definitely fits the bill.

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 later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge with the ingredients chosen by the lovely Heather Cooper:

Lots of ingredients in this week's recipe! The black/white/gold colour combination was my starting point and I had a look through my retired paper stash as I knew I had some options featuring those colours. I happened a pack of Merry Little Christmas paper and immediately everything fell into place and yes, by complete coincidence, I have another Christmas card for this week's AYSI card - take a look:

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

A Retired Celebration - I happened upon this black and white starry night paper and thought it would make the perfect night sky for a layered scene created using my retired Bethlehem Edgelits dies (I added some gold borders using some other retired paper from my stash). I cut both pieces in white and added a gold glimmer star, along with some clear rhinestones to the centres of the stars on the paper - you can just about make them out if you look closely:

Night In Bethlehem - My heat-embossed sentiment is from the co-ordinating (retired) stamp set called 'Night In Bethlehem'. I used another of the sentiments and an image from the same set to add a verse and decoration to the inside of my card:

All in all, not too tricky to make up that recipe when I got going - and another Christmas card for my pile using one of my favourite religious Christmas sets to boot.

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Recipe Challenge use all elements of the recipe - the possibilities within those parameters are endless.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge chosen by me:

Shapes are the theme! But not just any shape - your favourite! If you could only choose one shape, which would you choose? The title of today's post gives me away, but I know that for me hands-down the answer is ... a circle. I shared my love of them in my post last Sunday and for today's card I thought I'd try another fun circular pattern, but this time as a background for some other bits and pieces. I challenged myself to work with the red and white colour combo over at Color Hues and ended up making a Christmas card - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Stylish Shape Circles - My circles are once again courtesy of the Stylish Shapes Dies. For me these dies are a go-to with the fab stitched edge detailing, with my favourite of course being the circles; they add so much to any project. 

Red and White - I thought the Color Hues challenge this week was a fun one! A red and white colour combo makes me immediately think either Valentine’s or Christmas so I went with the latter.  I really wanted to use a variety of reds, so chose to create my swirl of circles in a combination of Poppy Parade, Real Red and Cherry Cobbler. I almost left it there, but decided that this would make a fun backdrop for some candy canes, so I diecut some using my retired Sweetest Borders Dies, using red and white glimmer paper to add interest with both texture and sparkle check out the sparkle below:

Peppermints and Candy Canes - To continue the circle theme, I added in some additional round diecuts, sparkling gems and a liberal sprinkling of adhesive-backed peppermints and a suitable sentiment. I love that those peppermints are still available - they are so great for festive projects!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Fill In The Blank Challenge, be sure to complete the sentence and explain how your card illustrates this.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back next week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	REAL RED & WHITE ADHESIVE-BACKED PEPPERMINTS (£8.00)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	NEUTRAL MATTE DOTS (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge featuring a sentiment and a single stem of some kind: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I chose a single stem from the 'Natural Botanicals' stamp set - perfect for the 'botanical' challenge over at CAS on Friday too - and set to work to create a simple one layer card:

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

I stamped my leaf and sentiment (from 'Sweet Blooms') in Tuxedo Black onto thick white cardstock and added some colour to the leaf sections using three of the 2025-27 In Color Stampin' Write markers:

Stampin' Write markers are great for one layer cards as they don't bleed through and since the sections are so small, it's easy to get an even colour without the need for a Blend. A trio of Cloud Cover flat pearls complete my card. Unorthodox colours for a leaf, for sure, but that's the creator's prerogative, right?

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:

NATURAL BOTANICALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£21.00)

SWEET BLOOMS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£17.00)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's a colour challenge, chosen by Deborah:

I love Melon Mambo - the original and best pink in my view so this was always going to be a popular colour combo with me! I was still in a stencilling move after making yesterday's card, so decided to grab the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge (although I was slightly contrary, adding the pattern inside my arch rather than on the base panel) and set to work - take a look:

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

I decided to use the primrose-type flowers in the Thankful Garden pack, stamping and colouring the petals twice and fussy cutting and layering my Peach Pie centre onto my Melon Mambo main petals. I placed my flowers inside a layered arch and used the same floral stamp to create a light background in Peach Pie - something I'd seen my team mate Jan do on one of her cards recently and I liked the effect, so wanted to try it myself; you can see that detail better below:

A thankyou sentiment and a few colourful enamel dots complete my card, along with an outline stamp detail on the inside of my card and the corner of my envelope - no naked layers here! 

Another reminder too that the Thankful Garden Suite is one of a number of suites that are part of this month's 'Buy one, get one at 50% off' promotion - so whether it's the bundle or the whole suite that has taken your fancy, there are great savings to be had. You can read more about the promotion here - there are just 3 more days to go to make the most of it, so what are you waiting for? Check out the featured suites in the online store today!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

THANKFUL GARDEN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£62.00)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (£27.00)	PEACH PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PEACH PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	SUNNY DAY IRIDESCENT DOTS (£6.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

It's my fourth and final week as Guest Designer over at Just us Girls and this week it's Stencil Week and anything goes. 

Stencils are also the theme over at Inkspirational this week, with the optional theme of geometric, so I went on the hunt for something vaguely geometric in style and grabbed the clashing colours over at Color Dare and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I'm often drawn to bright, clashing colours (especially where they feature orange outside of Halloween season!) and I thought this trio would look great balanced with an abundance of white for a fun stencilled background. I grabbed my retired Loveliest Layers Decorative Masks and created a fun chequered background in Pumpkin Pie and Berry Burst, masking the edges to create an even border. A simple Pretty Peacock border and layered diecut sentiment was all I needed to complete my card:

I could really do with more stencils in my collection - they are so versatile and fun to create with. Check out the other JUGS designers for some fabulous stencil inspiration; why not see what you can find in your craft stash to play along too?

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. 

Thanks to the lovely ladies over at Just Us Girls for having me as their guest designer this month - it's been a blast and I can't wait to play along with you all again soon! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for out new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FRIENDS FOR LIFE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)

It's time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches! I'm a little late with my card as we went live yesterday (sometimes life just gets in the way!) but I'm here now. Shannon is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

The blue in this trio of colours made me think of water (perfect for the challenge over at Addicted to CAS too!) and whilst given the time of year, you might have thought I would go for beachy waves, I decided inside to use an old favourite whilst it's still available on the last chance list - take a look:

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

That sweet bunny in the 'Playing In The Rain' stamp set looks great in these colours doesn't she? I simply stamped her and coloured with my Stampin' Blends, then added some extra stamped raindrops to complete the picture:

Stamps, ink, paper - done! I'm also linking today's card up over at AAA Cards where the theme is 'anything CAS goes'.

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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project for my final guest appearance over at Just Us Girls. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLAYING IN THE RAIN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£10.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	FRESH FREESIA STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BUBBLE BATH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

It's my third week as Guest Designer over at Just us Girls and this week it's Mood Board Week and we have a beautiful summery scene to inspire you:

How beautiful are those poppies on the beach? For my card I reached into my retired box to find my Painted Poppies stamp set, to create a clean and simple card - take a look:

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

I must confess I had a couple of attempts at this one - for the first one I went all-in trying to create the various elements of this beautiful beach scene, but I ended up binning it as it was 'too much' - does that ever happen to you? For my second attempt, I stamped a single poppy, coloured it with my Stampin' Blends, then masked both it and a rectangle around it, and used a combination of two blues and a yellow added with a blending brush to evoke the sky, sea and sand of the scene, with just a little tone-on-tone stamping of grains of sand and seashells in one corner:

A trio of iridescent faceted enamel dots and a simple sentiment from the 'Peaceful moments' stamp set (also retired), popped up on dimensionals, complete my card.

Poppies do make for a lovely sympathy/remembrance card, hence my chosen sentiment, and I think paired with these summery colours make for an uplifting clean and simple card. How does this beachy scene inspire you? Why not play along and join us over at Just Add Girls this week!

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 soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)