Today I'm sharing a card I made using the current sketch over at Sunday Stamps which is a slimline and using a pastel colour palette for the challenge over at Just Us Girls this week:

I'm not usually big on pastels, but I do LOVE the new  Lemon Lolly and Bubble Bath colours, and when I received a crafty gift in the post from a crafty friend I was inspired to create something pretty in pink - take a look:

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

One of my dear friends, Elizabeth Stewart of Paper Sweetness fame, sent me a whole collection of fabulous washi diecuts after I was wowed by a card she made using some, so I couldn't wait to create something with them! Since she is the hostess over at Just Us Girls this week it seemed only fair I showed that I was putting her sweet gift to good use! I paired them with existing bits and pieces from my stash, including a decorative panel cut from the (retired) Slim Card Dies in white layered over a base of Bubble Bath and my favourite shape of the Nested Essential Dies, to which I added a diecut 'celebrate' in gold foil from the Wanted To Say DIes and a gold heat-embossed 'you' from an old set:

An extra sprinkle of gold festive pearls completed my card. I love the pretty pastels in the washi tape and the way the elements 'frame' my label and extend along the slimline. Pretty in pink, for sure!

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. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	FESTIVE PEARLS (6.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)
VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)

Today I'm sharing a card using the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and the Hand Stamped Sentiments colour palette:

This is one of those cards that ended up looking nothing like it started out! I had a trio of stamped and diecut wreaths leftover from another project, so thought they would work nicely with the Sunday Stamps sketch. They were too large on a standard cardfront and I couldn't find a background I liked to accompany them, so in the end changed my colour scheme and went slimline and eventually came up with something I rather like - take a look:

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

Country Wreaths - I initially restamped my wreaths green-on-green instead of green-on-white, but the stamped detail just got lost so instead I went for a layered wreath using the dicuts only and I like this much more. I added some Cherry Cobbler Festive Pearls and a gold glimmer bow to each, to tie in with my ribbon banner and central sentiment element. I did add some stamped detail to the envelope and inside of my card though:

Framed & Festive - Instead of three wreaths, I opted to add a circle with my main sentiment to the centre. My sentiment comes from the limited-time stamp set 'Framed & Festive' that co-ordinates with the Framed Florets bundle currently on early release from the new mini catalogue - I love the big, bold font. I heat embossed it in gold onto Cherry Cobbler cardstock and added a sprig of greenery and some gold pearls to decorate: 

I almost ignored the banner detail on the original sketch, but there was the perfect stamp in the set to add a second sentiment part, so I added 'from all of us' heat embossed in gold directly onto the cardbase - you can just see it on the corner of the photo above.

A Neat Lights Aglow Trick - The eagle-eyed amongst you may have recognised that the background pattern I used comes from the Lights Aglow designer series paper pack. This is a 6"x6" paper pack - which is not wide enough for a slimline cardfront. The solution? I actually made my cardfront from two pieces of DSP, with the join running down the centre behind my red sentiment circle. I was careful to cut and line up the pattern perfectly and the presence of the circle means it is super difficult to see the join - if I hadn't just told you it was there, you wouldn't notice ;-). 

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; the bitter cold winds of winter seem to have arrived in force this week so I am hibernating! I hope you are warm and cosy wherever you are - and to all my American friends and readers, I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

COUNTRY WREATHS DIES (37.00)	FRAMED & FESTIVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	LIGHTS AGLOW 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	FESTIVE PEARLS (6.75)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (9.50)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the middle column with twine, flowers and leaves and today paired something old with something new - take a look:

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

Color Throwdown - Today's card features the colours over at Color Throwdown this week - check out these fresh colours:

I was supposed to be this week's Featured Stamper over at Color Throwdown following my win with this card here a couple of weeks ago. But I got my dates muddled and thought I needed to be ready for next week not this week! So I added some twine to the card I'd prepared and thought I'd share with you today instead. Isn't this a great mix of colours?

Slimline Stripes - Today's card was not only inspired by the colours but also the striped pattern on the dress of the CTD inspiration photo. I thought the Slimline Dies would be a great way to incorporate the colours but also add interest to the front of my card, don't you think? The Mint Macaron co-ordinates beautifully with the slimline envelopes too.

Sending Smiles - I couldn't resist another outing with the Sending Smiles bundle on today's card. I backed my flower stem with a circle of vellum so that it wouldn't get lost against the background. The real star of today's card though is the sentiment; I just love that layered 'sending' diecut and it's so versatile as it can be paired with lots of other greetings in the set:  

I'm also linking up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges who are featuring sentiments for their current challenge. They are also celebrating their 300th challenge - way to go!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I'm out at an art exhibition this evening, so looking forward to that. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SENDING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	SLIM CARD DIES (£55.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.50)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (£9.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)
POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Jeanne has asked that we create a slimline card with the following layout: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. I chose to use this week's colours over at Just Us Girls for my card - I love the soft green and pink combination, with the added warmth of vanilla. You might have thought this would draw me to florals, but no - today's card is all about the leaves - take a look:

I decided to have my first outing with the beautiful 'Artfully Layered' stamp set and create a cluster of leaves on the corner of my slimline card. The leaves are quite large, so I went with a standard sized slimline (9.5cm x 21cm). I stamped two leaves in Soft Succulent directly onto my card base, one of these going off the edge and for this one I created a stencil and added some some soft Blushing Bride pink ink over the top. To finish I added a layered diecut leaf and a simple birthday sentiment from the same set, along with a trio of three pink enamel dots.

I love the variation in detail of all three leaves:

I also used a few of the other stamps in the set to add a little extra detail to the inside of my card:

And of course the new Slimline Envelopes in the mini catalogue also come in Soft Succulent,  so I had the perfect ready-made envelope all set to go too - bonus!

The Artfully Layered bundle is a new acquisition for me, having been persuaded by all of the wonderful cards I've seen with it, especially those created by my wonderful friend Jan Clothier - you can check out here blog here if you would like to see some of the amazing creations she has made with this set.

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; It's only Tuesday and I am playing catch up already this week, having had my class day yesterday which is always busy. Add in an unscheduled hockey match today and the usual to-do list, piano lessons and the rest it is turning into a busy one! The sun is shining though and spirits are high, so I must get on. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ARTFULLY LAYERED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (£9.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUCCULENT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.25)

Today I'm sharing a second card that I made last week; squeaking this one in for the current challenge over at The Card Concept - check out their inspiration photo:

I love the nautical colours and strong geometrical prints in the inspiration photo and though they would be perfect for a similarly coloured clean and layered card featuring the Slim Card Dies - take a look at what I came up with:

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

I diecut the slim card die with the angles lines out of 4 different colours of cardstock, then paper-pieced the negative pieces back into the diecut outline for some fun nautical stripes. 

I didn't have a boat that was the right size for this card (the new Sailboat Builder Punch would have been perfect, but the boats in the 'Sailing Home' set were both too small) but on closer inspection I noticed there were a number of black dogs in the photo too, so thought a black labrador silhouette punched with my now retired Dog Builder Punch would work a treat. I added him to a sentiment stamped with the 'Biggest Wish' stamp set that was stamped and cut out with one of the Painted Labels Dies: 

And that was my card complete! Stampin' Up! even has a new range of slimline envelops the perfect size for my finished card, so I don't have to make my own - bonus!

I have a friend with a black labrador that looks just like this one so I think that's where this card will be headed when their birthday rolls around. The Slim Card Dies are super easy to use and great for paper-piecing; not only that, if you save all of the pieces you can make a number of cards in one go - here's a shot of the other cards I started to make whilst making this one:

One of them still needs a sentiment and they both require additional decoration, but it's good to have the bases already made. 

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 the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project and some exciting news for the month of March. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SLIM CARD DIES (£55.00)	BIGGEST WISH PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	SLIMLINE ENVELOPES (£9.25)	PAINTED LABELS DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)