Good evening everyone! Apologies for my lack of post yesterday; Rebecca was selecte to compete in an inter-school athletics competition yesterday that unexpectedly took me out of the house for most of the day and then I had a get-together with my lovely team yesterday evening, so I really wasn't at home all day. Today I have been super busy with my preparations for Rebecca's birthday weekend and along with baking and decorating a two tier cake today and finishing off the decorations, this is truly the first time I've sat down all day!

So today I have the last of the cards we made at this month's card class using the Springtime Hello stamp set:

I had a request for a black and white card using the set and this is what I came up with. This is quite different to the other cards we made (you can see the full set below) and the monochrome colour scheme and clean and simple lines of the card make it look quite sharp and modern. Just a simple piece of Modern Medley DSP matted on Basic Black, and then the flower image stamped in black, mounted and positioned at an angle to the DSP, and a central strip to draw your eye to the image, with 3 rhinestones coloured black with a Sharpie marker to add a little accent. I left my card sentiment-free as this is the sort of card you can use for any occasion.

That's all from me; I need to get some sleep before the onslaught of a group of 8 and 9 year olds tomorrow ready to craft and party in style! Back tomorrow with another card; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Stazon Cleaner	Springtime Hello	Modern Medley Designer Series Paper
Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents

Today I'm sharing the original card I designed for this week's challenge over at The Card Concept, which I also adapted for my Springtime Hello card class this week. Here is this week's challenge colour palette:

This card is quite different to my previous entry (you can see that card here); much more 'Classy and Elegant' this time around I think - here's my card:

I used Daffodil Delight for my card base and layered up from there. I dry embossed a piece of Basic Black cardstock with the Honeycomb embossing folder, then layered my main stamped panel onto this. I repeat-stamped the daisy stamp from the 'Springtime Hello' onto a piece of Watercolour Wonder DSP so that the panel would have a lovely washed background, and also stamped the text stamp from the retired 'French Foliage' set in Smoky Slate behind this, having stamped off twice first to give a very faint image. You could substitute this stamp with one from the 'Background Borders' set, which is currently reduced and still available on the retired list. I then stamped the bee and using my aquapainter, I washed white kraft ink over the bee's wings and the daisy flower petals to give a subtle hint of natural colour, whilst allowing the yellow of the DSP to show through. I finished with a piece of Basic Black 3/4" Chevron ribbon and heat embossed my sentiment fro the Six Sided Sampler set in black embossing powder onto a punched hexagon and popped it onto a dimensional.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Springtime Hello	Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Watercolor Wonder Designer Series Paper	Six-Sided Sampler Clear Bundle	Aqua Painter
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad	Versamark Pad	Embossing Buddy	Black Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool - Uk Plug
Big Shot Die-Cut Machine	Jet Black Stazon Pad	Basic Black 3/4" Chevron Ribbon	Basic Black A4 Card Stock	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad
Daffodil Delight A4 Card Stock

Good evening! A really quick post from me today, as I've been out and about all day today: my regular monthly card class with a super bunch of ladies, piano lessons after school and some admin this evening and now I'm ready for my bed! I just wanted to quickly share one of the cards we made in our class today, featuring the Springtime Hello stamp set:

We watercoloured a background using our aquapainters and blended Soft Sky, Pool Party and Pear Pizzazz inks, then overstamped this with one of the flowers in the set and added Melon Mambo and more Pear Pizzazz to the stamped image. We also added the 'Hello' sentiment from the 'A Dozen Thoughts' stamp set. This panel was then mounted onto two mats of co-ordinating cardstock and adhered to a Naturals Ivory card base. The card was then finished with a knot-tied piece of Pool party seam binding ribbon.

A simple card with a lovely pop of colour with the pink flower.

Right my bed is calling, but I will be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Springtime Hello	Naturals Ivory A4 Card Stock	Aqua Painter	6 X 9 Watercolor Paper	Jet Black Stazon Pad
Stazon Cleaner	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad	Card Stock A4 Pear Pizzazz
Pool Party A4 Card Stock	Pool Party 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad

Well, I don't know if I should say it, but as the children are about to return to school tomorrow we have had the most glorious day weather-wise - might summer have finally arrived? Let's hope so! We had a BBQ lunch in the garden, long bike ride and a picnic tea in the country park today - we thought we'd better make the most of the opportunity, just in case it's once again short-lived!

This week is also all about classes: I had the pleasure of running a private party yesterday evening for the lovely Maria and 6 of her friends - you can find out what they got up to on my Facebook page and if you live in or around Northampton and would like to host a similar event, do get in touch - and tomorrow is my regular monthly card class. This month we are featuring the stamp set 'Springtime Hello' and the card that I'm sharing today is a slight variation on one that we will be making in class. It is also my entry for this week's 'Colour Me...!' challenge, where in contrast the colours have a rather autumnal feel:

I wanted my card to have a natural feel, so thought these colours would be perfect for my card. Here it is:

I used Naturals Ivory cardstock for my central panel - I haven't used this cardstock before and it has a great texture for this type of card - then inked up the wild daisy stamp using my Crushed Curry, Cajun Craze and Wild Wasabi marker pens and stamped the flower. I created the script background using one of the stamps in the retired 'French Foliage' set - I inked it in Baked Brown Sugar and stamped off twice before stamping onto my panel so that it would have a very faint background effect.  Lastly, I stamped both the bee and the sentiment in Baked Brown Sugar and added a little Crushed Curry to the bee again with my marker pen. I then mounted this panel on a mat of Baked Brown Sugar and centred on a card base of Very Vanilla. I think this card has quite a vintage feel - like a botanical drawing in an old book. This set is in the current Spring-Summer catalogue and along with lots of others is one that will be retiring at the end of the month, so if it's on your wish list, you only have a little while longer to purchase it.

That's all from me - back tomorrow with another card. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Springtime Hello	Naturals Ivory A4 Card Stock	2013-2015 In Color Stampin' Write Markers	Baked Brown Sugar Classic Stampin' Pad	Subtles Stampin' Write Markers
Regals Stampin' Write Markers	Card Stock A4 Baked Brown Sugar	Very Vanilla A4 Card Stock