Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week; it's colour challenge time and she has a beautiful trio of colours for us to work with:

I knew I was going to have to go floral with those pretty colours so pulled out an old favourite and set to work. Take a look:

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

Layers of Beauty - It's been a few weeks, but I still have so many more ideas and techniques that I want to share using the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set that I thought today would be another great opportunity - I just love those flowers and the stencils are awesome!

Floating Frame Technique - Today's card was somewhat born out of a 'happy accident'. When I made this card, the one I shared was actually the second one I made; I got a smudge on the panel of the first one, so made another. It seemed a shame to bin the first one, so I recut the diecuts and since they had scorelines down the middle, cut along the scorelines too. this gave me four pieces - perfect for a floating frame. Today's card uses the same technique, but with one of the other sentiments in the set, clustering in the flowers around the greeting:

I added a sprinkle of Berry Burst sequins to fill some of the gaps and add a little extra shimmer and shine.

Finishing Touches - At the same time that I stamped and stencilled the flowers for the outside of my card, I added another to both the inside and the envelope. It takes very little extra effort, but makes for a nice finishing touch:

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. 

In case you're wondering what the other card that I mentioned above looked like, here's a photo - call it a bonus!

This was such a fun technique to revisit and yet another example of the versatility of the Layers of Beauty set.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; the youngest of the James Juniors is now officially on study leave, pending the start of his A Level examinations, so today is all about revision - his first paper is tomorrow and Economics is the subject of the day (rather him than me!) so the rest of us will be keeping a low profile in order that he can get his head down. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LAYERS OF BEAUTY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DIES (£28.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DECORATIVE MASKS (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS TRIO (£3.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

As crafters we are always adding to our crafty stash, so today's challenge is about pairing something that you recently bought with an old favourite. I have some beautiful new floral sets from the upcoming annual catalogue that I hadn't had the chance to play with yet, so today was the perfect opportunity to remedy that. I was inspired by the colours of those beautiful tulips in the top right corner of Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo and used the layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Pretty Florals - Today's card really is all about the florals - this card is choc-full of them! I used the new Pretty Florals Dies and diecut a trio of blooms and buds from Pretty In Pink cardstock and inked them with Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo and layered them into a floral cascade, interspersed with some bright green leaf foliage. I love the diecut detail and unusual layering of these large flowers (peonies, perhaps?) - so pretty! I also added some fine white and clear Wink of Stella ink splatters to my blooms and cardbase for a little extra detail.  

Sweet Blooms - The Florals in Bloom Suite contains two bundles: the Pretty Florals bundle that I used for the flowers, and the Sweet Blooms bundle, that is predominantly a sentiment-builder set based around two large sentiment dies - I used the 'bloom' one on today's card. I cut the uppermost layer out of co-ordinating glimmer paper for some extra sparkle and shine:

I also added some in-colour pink glimmer gems because, well, you can never have enough pink!

Brickwork Texture - The 'old favourite' item on my card is the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder that I used to add texture to my Smoky Slate card base. I'm not a big EF user, but this one is a keeper and definitely one of my favourites.

I love the mix of old and new products on this card and I'm really pleased with how my finished card turned out; I think I'll be getting a lot use from these new bundles.

CAS Take Two - I had some spare blossoms cut and coloured leftover from my card, so decided to use them up and make a quick card for the clean and simple colour challenge over at AAA Cards, since I had used 3 of their 4 colours:

I used the same sentiment but this time stamped it directly onto my white cardbase, next to my simple flower stem:

 The detail on these flowers really is something, don't you think?

 As you can see, the Pretty Florals and Sweet Blooms bundles are great for both super detailed and layered cards, and clean and simple ones too. here's a photo of both cards together:

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

And for the second card:

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; the weather has turned cooler again here in the UK so I think I might have the opportunity to indulge in a little crafting; I had lots more ideas for new projects when I was playing yesterday, so I'm keen to get them down on paper! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EXPOSED BRICK 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£10.25)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (£4.80)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I knew I wanted to play with my Floral Delights papers today; the Delightful Wishes Suite was my first choice from the mini catalogue - I do love yellow! - yet it hasn't seen anywhere near enough love, so today is a step towards changing that - take a look:

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

Floral Delights - I decided I would stick with the basic round shape in the sketch and use this as the basis for my collection of fussy cut flowers, taken straight from the Floral Delights papers. I wanted to create an arch of flowers to frame my sentiment, so just layered them up until I was happy with the arrangement.

Delightful Wishes - The 'wishing' die is my favourite element of the Delightful Wishes bundle - along with the other sentiments in the set, so many bespoke greetings can be created. Today I went for 'Wishing You Well' - this would work as a get well soon card, but also as a farewell or even good luck wishes for the future. I stamped part of the sentiment onto my diecut circle, then overlaid my 'wishing' diecut onto the cluster of flowers added previously. The white border of the diecut, along with the white border of my fussy cut flowers and the mat layer all tie in to give a neat, uniform appearance. 

Just Two Colours - I was originally intending to use some yellow gingham plaid for my base, but my ribbon got rather lost amongst the pattern. When I spied this faux-textured Old Olive paper, I immediately switched - it works so much better. Almost without trying, I ended up using only two colours on today's card: yellow and green (with white as a neutral). I'm so pleased with the finished effect - and I hope the ladies over at Color Dare will like it too, since they are also looking for two-colour combos including yellow this week. 

I'm pleased that the Delightful Wishes bundle is on carryover; the Floral Delights paper though is not, so if you have it in your sights, it's your last chance to snap it up. The link to it in the online store is below - you're welcome ;-)

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; the hubby and I went to the theatre yesterday evening to watch 'War Horse', the dramatisation of Michael Morpurgo's famous book of the same name. It was amazing - the life-size mechanical horse puppets really were a sight to behold. Back down to earth today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT 1/8" (3.2 MM) SATIN RIBBON (£7.50)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)

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

Since it's Easter Sunday, I had to go with another Easter bunny on my card today - take a look:

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

I used the cute little bunny from the 'Choose Happy' stamp set for my bunny, coloured him with pink Stampin' Blends and added him to a tag that I made using one of the Something Fancy Dies:

The colours were taken from the strip of Wildflower Birthday designer series paper that I used behind, and a sentiment along with a few enamel dots and sequins were all I needed to finish my super simple card. Having made my card, I also took the opportunity to make some quick co-ordinating Easter bunny treats:

I was inspired by these bunnies here, but adapted the measurements to fit a smaller Lindt chocolate ball. They really are so simple - all you need is a 10.5" x 2" strip of designer paper, folded in half lengthways then score at 1", 2.75", 4", 5.25", 6", 6.5", 7", 7.75" and 9.5" intervals, using a bone folder to round the body and ear sections to create the bunny shape:

They are so easy you could make the basic shape in a few minutes - if you're quick, you might still have time to get them done to add to your Easter table!

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; I hope it's filled with more chocolate eggs than are strictly good for you! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	SOMETHING FANCY DIES (£10.80)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£16.00)	PRETTY IN PINK 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£10.50)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Stef to host this week and she has a beautiful, bright colour challenge for us to work with:

I love Stef's bright colour palette this week - it's totally in my wheelhouse! I wanted to give one of my current favourite online-exclusive florals another outing, so I took the 2 prompts of 'floral' and 'arch' over at Time Out Challenges and went across the bottom row of the Tic Tac Toe Challenge board with flower/ink blending/embellishments and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Double Mixed Florals and A Colouring Tip - I love these colours together! I decided to use Coastal Cabana for my card base, and added a diecut arch in some (retired) geometric paper in the same colour for my base, then used the remaining colours for my florals. I decided to use both of the large floral images in the Mixed Florals bundle together on my card and also included the foliage diecut behind although you can hardly see that because of all the lovely flowers! I used my Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green to colour my florals, adding in a darker purple to give more of a Gorgeous Grape feel with a rogue Sharpie from my collection (feel free to join me in my campaign for Gorgeous Grape Blends markers any time!). Did you notice how seemlessly the florals blend with the background? That's because once I'd coloured my flowers, I also coloured all of the remaining white space with my (retired) Coastal Cabana Blendabilities markers (I'm campaigning to have this colour in Blends too!!) This takes a little time, but is well worth it I think - I much prefer this effect to white edges for this kind of card.

Saying Hey - Bold florals require a bold sentiment, so on today's card I added 'hey' from the 'Saying Hey' stamp set. This is another of those sets that is on the Last Chance List this week; this is my favourite sentiment in this set - it can be paired with anything on the inside and is great for a bold statement on the front of a card.

Tiny Bees - A loop of (retired) Gorgeous Grape ribbon and a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets are the only additional elements on today's card; you can see those tiny bees on the close-up below:

They would be easy to miss amongst those bright colours and bold florals, but they are great for a fun, postal-friendly embellishment - so cute!

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; I haven't crafted in over a week - the weather in the UK has been so glorious, I've been spending all my time in the garden, getting everything tidied up and looking a little more inviting. The weather is due to turn today though, with showers returning. Since my new catalogue pre-order arrived on Friday, this timing might have worked out quite well - it's time to play! I do need to have a good craft room clear-out first though, so it's probably a good job I have a few projects already made to share with you. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (8.00)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jan to host this week and she has an interesting theme challenge for us to work with:

I was so tempted to make a scrapbook page this week, especially since it's ages since I shared one, but alas I couldn't find a suitable photo, and ultimately ran out of time, so decided to make a card. I finally booked my summer vacation last week, so I have beaches on my mind; along with the colours over at Colour Inkspiration this is what I came up with:

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

Beach Day - I have gotten so much use out of the Beach day stamp and dies, so it's no surprise that they are making another appearance on today's card. I am sad to see them appear on the last chance list as retiring items this week, however this is one bundle that I won't part with - the elements in it are so useful and many of the dies work without the stamped images too. I actually bought this bundle to scrapbook with, yet here I am sharing another card! I usually use the diecut-only lifeguard hut, but today I thought I'd go with the stamped version. I left it mostly white, with little pops of red, green and blue in the challenge colours.

Soft Waves - I wanted to create a little beach scene on today's card, but also to use my Soft Waves embossing folder, so I decided to use a whole background panel of Azure Afternoon, embossed with waves, to sit behind my beach scene. This is my biggest splash of colour; in addition to the details on the beach house, I added a little of the same colour behind my beach hut for some sky and some Daffodil Delight blended across the bottom of my feature panel for the sand, stamping some shells here and there along with some Mossy Meadow sea grass to ground it. It makes for an abstract scene, but I think it works!

Wishing To A Wish - I used that traditional postcard greeting of 'wish you were here' on my card, that I fashioned out of the stamps and dies in the Delightful Wishes bundle. The die actually spells 'wishing', but it was easy to snip down to make the word 'wish':

I am going to save this card to send to the youngest of the James Juniors when us Seniors take our first child-free holiday, which won't be that far away now! Something that comes with mixed emotions for sure, but I'm looking forward to how much more economical it will be, so definitely a silver lining too! I'm also linking this card up over at Just Us Girls (thank you for last week's shout out!) where it's Die Week - no flowers; there have been a lot of florals of late, so today's card is ringing the changes.

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; we have been enjoying some lovely spring weather here in the UK this past week, so I am finally able to get outside and spend more time in the garden getting it ready for summer. Looking forward to doing a little more of that this afternoon, along with baking a raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake for lunch - yum! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (11.40)	BEACH DAY DIES (12.80)	SOFT WAVES 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

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 as it's the fifth Sunday of the month, she has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for us to work with:

I went across the top row with flowers(cake and sentiment decoration)/pink (cake and ribbon)/ribbon (behind the circle) and created a special birthday card - take a look:

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

A Deja Vu Moment - If you're looking at today's card and thinking there's something familiar about it - you'd be right! This is the other card that I mentioned in last Sunday's post that also uses Ann's sketch - although this one uses it in a different way. I still used the 'Celebrate' diecut element for the horizontal, but used the circle to extend my sentiment using a greeting from the Birthday Celebration bundle and instead of a shaker, I used the centre of my frame to house one of the panels of the Wildflower Celebration paper. In addition to whole patterned sheets and diecuts, there is also a sheet made up of pre-printed panels in varying sizes that feature birthday imagery too and the tiered fancy pink birthday cake was just what I needed for this special card.

Retired Favourites - I did use a few retired favourites on today's card: the white diecut frame was made using a couple of Stitched rectangle dies, the frame itself is Seaside Spray cardstock and I backed my 'Celebrate' diecut with vellum. I also used some retired glitter gold gems. All of these could be substituted with alternatives from your stash.

Age Is Just A Number - I finished my card with a diecut number '80', which I cut using the Birthday Celebration number dies. I created a blue drop shadow to make the standout and added them to the centre of my cake:

Here's the thing though - I am of the view that as we get older, milestone birthdays should be recognised and celebrated and as such, numbers on a card should make a return. I was discussing this with my mother-in-law over lunch last week, who recently turned 80 and has many friends of a similar age, but she felt strongly to the contrary - that as we age we don't wish to be reminded of the fact and it was a source of some dismay amongst her friendship group, so much so that they keep an informal of tally of number cards between them for precisely the opposite reason. So what do you think - are numbers on cards a 'yay or a 'nay'? Do leave me a comment below with your thoughts! 

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; today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK and whilst I won't see my own Mum in person today, I am looking forward to being spoiled by the youngest of the James Juniors, with a roast lamb lunch and something special for pudding too. Happy Mother's Day to anyone else reading this who is celebrating today; I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (39.50)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I still had my Wildflower Birthday designer series papers out on my desk after making yesterday's card and I actually made a couple of cards using Ann's sketch. Both were quite different and I'll share the first one I made another time, but for today I wanted to share my favourite - take a look:

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

Everyday Arches Shaker - I decided to play with the layers of Ann's card, and create a central shaker element using the Everyday Arches Dies. I used a simple flat shaker, by filling an acetate bag with gold and teal covered sequins from my stash, along with a few gold birthday candles, and simply taped this to the reverse of my arch opening. This is a fun way to make a quick shaker and means you can keep any dimension for the other elements of your card.

Wildflower Birthday - The main focal point of my card is one of the delicious-looking over-the-top birthday cake diecuts from the Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack. I just love these for a special birthday card! I used another of the paper designs for the frame to surround my shaker, widening the frame so that lots of the pattern is on show.

Wanted to Say - Today's card is a no-stamping card (other than the sentiment on the inside of my card). This wasn't by design - my first card that I made included a stamped sentiment - but as I put my card together, I liked the cleaner layers achieved by using bold diecuts and instead added a layered 'Celebrate' from the Wanted To Say Dies instead - this one pairs with the Birthday Celebration bundle perfectly:

This card is a non-standard size (it actually measures 15cm x 18.5cm) so will need a custom envelope. I think this is a good size to accommodate some of the larger diecut elements in the designer paper, but you could scale down and create something more compact if you prefer.

I'm linking today's card up with the ladies over at The Alphabet Challenge blog where they are at 'Y is for Yummy' - that birthday cake certainly does look delicious to me!

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; no specific plans here today, perhaps some time pottering in the garden if the weather holds. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and it's clean and simple week! So along with minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space, I have a fun theme for us to work with too:

Use just a single stamped image on your card - aside from a sentiment too if you wish, only one stamped image. A single image makes a great focal point for a clean and simple card; I paired mine with a great sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and indulged in a spot of colouring on my card - take a look:

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

One More Year - I love the 'One More Year' stamp set for fun and quirky cards for both young people and the young-at-heart. In addition to a set of humorous mix and match sentiments, 'One More Year' features a trio of single stamped images that make great focal points too - I used the cheese and wine image, stamped onto a Nested Essentials diecut, adding some simple colour with my Stampin' Blends:

Clean and Simple - In addition to my stamped diecut, I added a couple of banner flags and a twist of gingham ribbon as per the sketch. Ordinarily I wouldn't use ribbon on a clean and simple card, but with such a simple design and that being the only embellishment, it adds detail whilst still allowing the card to have a clean design. 

Finishing Touches - I stamped and coloured the same image to decorate the inside of my card and stamped the other half of my sentiment to complete my card:

This is such a great set for clean and simple cards! What images do you like to use on your clean and simple cards? Leave me a comment below or better still, make a card and play along with us over at The Paper Players 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 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; I don't have any special plans today; I'll be spending some time in the kitchen and generally having an easy day. I'll be back tomorrow soon another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BLACK & VERY VANILLA 3/8" (1 CM) LARGE CHECK RIBBON (7.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jaydee to host this week and she has a pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

I don't often use pastel colours and certainly not exclusively, so this week was something of a challenge for me. I decided in honour of Jaydee not being a 'pink' person (I don't believe her - she often uses pink to great effect!!), that Bubble Bath would be my feature colour and when I saw the palette at Color Dare, I decided to pair it with Fresh Freesia, Soft Sea Foam and a hint of Pool Party for my pastel vibes - take a look at where I ended up:

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

Add Colour - To achieve tones of the same colour, I diecut all of my flowers and leaves from solid colour cardstock and for the detailed top layer, I added the same colour ink with a blending brush to give a further depth of colour. 

Add Texture - This card is choc-full of texture with all of the diecut layers! Both the background die and the florals are all from the Delightful Wishes bundle and are diecut only - no stamping required. There are so many layers that with the exception of the sentiment, I didn't use any dimensionals; just by overlaying the flowers you can create depth and texture.

Add Movement - Finally I added a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets - these little buzzy fellows don't actually move of course, but their presence gives a suggestion of movement to the card.

So what do you think - are pastels for you? Whilst they are generally not a 'go-to' for me, I really love the softness of the finished card. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone features pastels in the gallery 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 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; I am hoping to get out in the garden today and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we've been having here in the UK this week - long may it continue! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)