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 she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

LeAnne's sketch is so perfect for a showcase of patterned paper. I decided to go with one of my favourite bright and colourful paper packs, Sweet Symmetry, and used not one but two patterned papers on my card - take a look:

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

I don't often pair patterned papers on my cards, but I loved the combination of the pattern with the shades of blue for the background, with a pop of bright colour from the paper I used for my three panels; the navy stems help tie the two patterns together. I used my Stitched Rectangle Dies to crop both my three vertical panels and my horizontal sentiment. I almost left my card there, but decided to upset the symmetry that I had worked so hard to create elsewhere with the near-perfect pattern alignment by fussy cutting a trio of flowers and using them to accent my sentiment, using colours lifted from the paper pattern:

I can't tell you how much I agonised over that trio of flowers, but I decided I liked the addition so left them in. What do you think - were they a good addition? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

I love the colours and bright patterns of the products in the Sweet Symmetry suite and will be sad to see them retire. The good news though is that both the 'In Symmetry' stamp set and Sweet Symmetry designer series paper are currently on the Last Chance Products List, each with 40% off. If you don't have either now is the time to pick them up and grab yourself a bargain before they're gone! Follow the links at the bottom of this post to go straight to the Stampin' Up! store to order yours.

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:

Enjoy your day; it's Mother's Day here in the UK today so I am looking forward to being spoiled and waited on all day long - here's hoping! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

IN SYMMETRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£9.60)	SWEET SYMMETRY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£6.45)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'World Party Day' which is on April 3rd. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used bright colours, twine, a celebratory sentiment and lots of layers, along with the intriguing sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and this is what I came up with:

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

Sweet Symmetry - When I think about bright colours, I am drawn to the Sweet Symmetry papers in the suite of the same name. Full of brights and bold patterns, I knew this would be the set to work with today. I particularly like the navy-based patterns in this pack, so chose one and cut a panel, making sure to centre the pattern to my base and added it to a Just Jade mat and Night of Navy card base.  

In Symmetry Blooms - Those triangles on the Sunday Stamps sketch really got me thinking; I settled on a collection of flowers, roughly placed in a triangular shape, and mirrored and offset around my sentiment and twine-wrapped layered circle base. The symmetrical nature of the stamps in the 'In Symmetry' set are perfect for creating mirror images or structured, stylised designs such as this.

Bold Colour - The eagle-eyed amongst you may have realised that my flowers are not stamped on white cardstock, rather on paler tones of the same colour. I saw a great card by one of the Stampin' Up! UK Artisans, Martin Stone, using this technique and I love the added brightness and intensity it gives the colours. This card is very much a 'go bold or go home' type of card - you can see the detail on the flowers better on the close-up below:

If you're interested in specifics, I listed the colours I used in the supplies table at the bottom of today's post. This might not be a card for everyone, but I really love it!

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James - you are here!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

IN SYMMETRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	SWEET SYMMETRY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I loved the layering of Laurie's sketch and decided it was a great layout to showcase some pretty designer series paper - and I've always got plenty of that! In addition to my patterned paper, I added layers (6 in total!) and a gingham ribbon bow for my three items from this week's Festive Friday inspo list to create my bright and cheery card - take a look:

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

In Symmetry - A big Calypso Coral flower with a double set of Night of Navy leaves make up the flower from the 'In Symmetry' stamp set that features on my angled panel today. I fussy cut the leaves and flower head and popped them up on dimensionals, adding a Bumblebee enamel dot and some Bumblebee gingham ribbon for a pop of yellow too. 

Envelope Detail - I added another of the flowers from the stamp set inside my card and added some extra stamped detail to the back of the co-ordinating envelope flap; no naked envelopes here! 

Sweet Symmetry Backdrop - The colours of my stamped flower were taken from the Sweet Symmetry designer series paper pattern that featured on the main background panel of my card. This is one of my favourite papers in this pack - I just love these bold, retro papers; they remind me of the patterns synonymous with the Irish fashion designer, Orla Kiely, don't you think?

I just love this card, even with the quirky angled panel which I thought I might struggle with, but it turns out not a bit!

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; yesterday the weather was unexpectedly dire here, so if it brightens up today I will be looking forward to spending some time in the garden. I'm hoping to squeeze in a little crafting time too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

IN SYMMETRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	SWEET SYMMETRY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE 1/4" (6.4MM) GINGHAM RIBBON (£6.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses more of my new product stash so is perfect for the challenge over at TGIF Challenges this week where they are all about the new:

I could have linked up any of my 'Expressions In Ink' cards this week (and heads up - I have another one of those for you tomorrow!) but instead took a break to play with some of the new stamps and paper from the Sweet Symmetry Suite that you can find on page 112 of the new annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Sweet Symmetry - The starting point for today's card is the gorgeous Sweet Symmetry designer series paper. Bright colours and bold, graphic designs make this a set of papers that won't appeal to everyone, but I have to say I love the retro fee of the patterns in this set and bright colours always tick my creative box! I chose one of my favourite repeating patterns and used that for the panel that covers two-thirds of my card front. 

In Symmetry - I decided to create a focal point flower that I stamped using the co-ordinating 'In Symmetry' stamp set and as I wanted the design to echo the papers, I stamped the flower several times in a variety of colours then fussy cut the sections and pieced them together. There are no framelits for this set - a very useful symmetrical stems punch instead that I didn't use today - but the uniform shape of the various floral elements meant this was easy to accomplish. You can see the detail of my layered flower more closely below:

Same Layout, Different Card - You may be wondering if there is something familiar about today's card; whilst the product I'm using I am sharing for the first time, the layout is the same as the one I used for my Paper Players card on Sunday (if you missed it you can see that card here). I liked Jaydee's sketch so much I thought I'd change things up and use it with a different set. Both cards look completely different, yet the sketch does give them a synergy that would otherwise be missing. Same layout, different card - I love that!

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. 

That's all from me today; I have jobs to do and need to crack on! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project and yes - it features Expressions in Ink! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

IN SYMMETRY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£16.00)	SWEET SYMMETRY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BUMBLEBEE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)