Hooray it's Friday! This week feels like a long one and has finished with what feels like a day at the wheel of my Mum Taxi! I did manage to finish a card I started yesterday for this week's challenge over at Less is More although I am too late to link up - you should totally check out the DT and gallery cards though, they are gorgeous: 

I love the idea of 'mainly teal' for this week's colour challenge and I've had an idea for this card that has been with me all week, just waiting for some time in my craft room to execute it  - take a look:

I decided to go with a simple layered flower and leaves, cut with my Stylish Stems Framelits Dies, in Bermuda Bay and Pool Party cardstock and some of the gorgeous new Sale-A-Bration Glimmer Paper in Bermuda Bay for my flower outline and border edge. To create the same effect with the leaves, I used my Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker to colour some Dazzling Diamonds white glimmer paper to mimic this. A border of retired Cherries On Top DSP and a sentiment from Butterfly Basics finishes my card. 

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. 

This new Sale-A-Bration glimmer paper is gorgeous and I love the way that just a little sparkle adds to this otherwise clean and simple design.

A really quick post from me today - should be back with an earlier one tomorrow though! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Stylish Stems Framelits Dies	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad	Pool Party A4 Cardstock
Subtles Stampin' Write Markers	Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper	Glitzerpapier-Set 6" X 6" (15,2 X 15,2 Cm)

Happy Monday everyone! As promised yesterday, I have another card for you using the Special Reason bundle and this week's colour palette over at Fab Friday:

In the process of making my card for our challenge over at The Paper Players this week, I had lots of bits and pieces left over, including the very piece I started out with that included a stamped flower. So often these end up in my scrapbox never to see the light of day again; to avoid this happening, I set about making another card right away - here it is:

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

A Special Reason to Rock 'n' Roll - As I mentioned yesterday, I love how the pale blue and warm vanilla tone down the Sweet Sugarplum in the above colour combination, as I sometimes find this purpley-pink a little stark when paired with stronger colours. I thought I'd use the rock and roll technique to add a little plum to the tips of the petals of my blue inked flower taken from the Special Reason stamp set; I also used a cotton bud (aka 'cue tip' for my USA friends!) to add a little to the inner petals too; I love how this gives subtle added definition to the form of the flower itself.

Ways With Stylish Stems Framelits - In addition to my large diecut flower and leaf, I also used my Stylish Stems Framelits to add some subtle detail to my stamped flower: if you look closely, you will see I partially die cut the mat in order to have my flower hang over that lovely piece of Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate and the metallic ribbon. It adds dimension without bulk and the need for an extra layer.

Fancy Some Free Metallics? - In addition to the strip of gold scallop pattern Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate (I just love this stuff!) I added a strip of ribbon and a bow to my card, using the gorgeous vanilla and gold ribbon from the Sale-A-Bration Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (the other ribbon in the pack is white and woven with silver). This ribbon has a soft, almost velvety feel and ties the most beautiful bows - check out this fabulous gift packaging too:

This is one of the items that can be yours free during Sale-A-Bration with a £45 order - you are definitely going to want some!

I also used one of the two-part sentiments from the Special Reason stamp set - the inside of my card reads "...except to let you know how special you are!" How lovely is that?! Perfect to send to a friend of mine 'just because'.

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. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another project; I'm finally getting back into the swing of things here in blog land! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Special Reason Clear-Mount Bundle	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock	Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad	Soft Sky A4 Cardstock	Soft Sky Classic Stampin' Pad
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Stylish Stems Framelits Dies	Special Reason Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

I decided that for today's card I was going to try and come up with a CAS card that featured a single flower. I originally started out stamping and played around with lots of different combinations before settling on a card using the negative space created using the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies. Here's my final card:

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

Unorthodox Floral Colour Combination - I took my colour combination from this week's challenge over at Fab Friday. I love how the pale blue and warm vanilla tone down the Sweet Sugarplum, which I sometimes find a little stark when paired with stronger colours. For the original card I was making, it worked perfectly (I'll share that card with you tomorrow and explain more then!) It does look slightly unorthodox here granted, given the simplicity of the design - what flower has a blue stem?! - yet I decided that since I love the colour combination and the card has a clean and contemporary feel, I would go with it. Who knows, maybe I'll start a new trend!

Layered Negative Space - When I first saw the Stylish Stems Framelits Dies in the Spring-Summer catalogue, I thought - do I really need another set of flower framelits? The answer though on closer inspection was a definite 'yes'; I'm a big fan of using the negative space created when using framelits and dies this set is actually designed with that in mind; the flowers and stem can be used both to cut a positive shape, by layering the outline with the inside shape together, but the inner piece can be used alone to make the negative space itself the focal point. So many creative possibilities! Using the layers of this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch for inspiration, I cut through a single layer of Very Vanilla cardstock to reveal my Sweet Sugarplum flower, then cut the stem through both the Very Vanilla and Sweet Sugarplum layers to reveal the Soft Sky cardstock layer below. All that cutting makes this CAS card great for the challenge over at CASology this week too.

For A Good Friend - Lastly, I added a sentiment from the co-ordinating 'Special Reason' stamp set that is perfect for a special friend. My placement is not strictly as per the sketch, as I needed it to have more prominence so stamped it on the Very Vanilla top layer. My card is destined for one of my very best friends to say thank you for entertaining the James family for dinner yesterday evening.

A super-simple clean and simple card with minimal supplies - I just love 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 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:

I look forward to seeing your clean and simple creations in the gallery this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Special Reason Clear-Mount Bundle

Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock

Sweet Sugarplum Classic Stampin' Pad

Soft Sky A4 Cardstock

Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock