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 colour challenge for us to work with:

I say 'interesting' ... I could not initially work out what to do with these colours! Then I decided they might work for a card I wanted to make to welcome a new puppy addition - take a look:

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

Puppy Love - My crafty friend Elizabeth is soon to welcome a new puppy: his name is Beau and he is adorable! He is already a couple of months old, but he won't be moving in with Elizabeth for another couple of months yet. I immediately wanted to include the puppies from 'Cutest Crew' on a card - Beau is almost white in colour and looks not unlike the first one in the row, so I coloured him accordingly. You can see that more closely on the image below.

What's In A Name? - I decided to include Beau's name on my card for a personalised welcome (the word 'welcome' is from the retired set 'Welcome Words') and diecut the letters in Azure Afternoon using the Party Alphabet Dies. I used a slimline design and overlaid the 'welcome' on top of the name (I might actually adjust this slightly as now I'm looking at the photo, I think it interferes with the 'B' of his name too much). I added the row of playful puppies to the bottom right hand corner of the card to balance the sentiment.

A Little Background Detail - I used a couple of layered panels in Azure Afternoon and Crumb Cake behind the main panel, but it looked a little bare so before I glued my letters in place I lightly stencilled the dot pattern in Crumb Cake using a decorative mask for a little extra detail. This mask comes in the set with the waves one, which I have used lots. I had actually forgotten about the dots one until Jan used it on a card last week and reminded me about it, and I really like the effect. You can see the detail more closely below, along with a close up of the colouring of the pupples:

On this closeup you can see the tiny amount of Granny Apple Green I've used on this card: just the flower leaves and the checked bandana that one of the pups is wearing. I often find one colour ends up being the 'poor relation' in a colour challenge, and this time it's green's turn!

It's not like me to be so organised to have a card ready long before I need to mail it, so I guess I have Jan and her unusual colour combo to thank for that. Now I just need to hope that Elizabeth doesn't read my blog post before she receives 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 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 James Junior is home from university for the weekend, as it was his annual Cricket Club awards dinner yesterday evening. Te event was followed by much celebrating with the team for the various accolades individuals achieved this year and the team's promotion to the next league for the fourth year running, so he is enjoying a lie-in this morning. Me - I'm still working my way through his laundry and a massive ironing pile, so that everything is ready to go back with him tomorrow! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CUTEST CREW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£42.25)	PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	WATER & DOTTED LINES 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DECORATIVE MASKS (£20.00)	BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)
AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)
BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Happy Easter Monday one and all!  We have recently had a couple of new families move into our street and so I was in need of a couple of welcome cards, so I combined a few current challenges to help me out in my quest:

Kim has a great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and since I was using a long-retired stamp I combined with some cheery rainbow colours so that I could play along with the team over at Retro Rubber. My stripes are also perfect for this week's challenge over at Just Us Girls. So what did I come up with? Take a look:

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

I used an old retired set from 2016 called 'Welcome Words' for today's card, heat embossing the large 'Welcome' in retired Blueberry Bushel embossing powder onto a Balmy Blue card base, then stamping a selection of houses with the remainder of my greeting onto a stitched scalloped rectangle and colouring with a selection of Blends in rainbow colours. I also added a little red resin heart floating from the chimney of one house for an extra fun detail:

I decided to create a rainbow-striped vertical panel to connect my 'welcome' to my panel of houses and the remainder of my greeting. 'Welcome Words' was such a keeper for me - it's great for cards like this.

No visual summary of the key products used on today's project as the stamp set is retired and it's the kind of project you could make with pretty much any colours. 

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

Today I have a card to share for the current challenge over at Fab Friday, where they have a great sketch to play along with:

I decided to use a set that I haven't previously inked up for my card today - the lovely 'Welcome Words' - to make a card that I've always wanted a sentiment for. Take a look and you'll see what I mean:

This stamp can be used for all kinds of welcomes - new homes, new team members, new babies, new year - and also to welcome new neighbours to your street, an idea that I just love! For my card I decided to use the horizontal panel for my 'welcome' and create a custom background by repeat stamping the little trio of houses across my background panel in Memento Black and then colouring them with my Stampin' Write markers. I was somewhat inspired by the colourful houses of Tobermory in Scotland - here's a photo of them, image courtesy of the Cafe Fish that you can see on the right of the picture:

Image courtesy of: www.thecafefish.com

I love those houses painted in bright, primary colours and whilst it's nothing like the houses in my street, decided that this would make a bright and cheerful welcome card for a new neighbour. I added a retired speech bubble paperclip for my embellishment with a little red heart punched from my Confetti Border Punch in the centre. Similarly, I used some retired scraps of Brights designer series paper for the banner flags and I used a metallic doily for the semi-circular element. The colourful outside is then continued onto the inside of my card to complete the sentiment:

This stamp set is one that could be easily overlooked in the current seasonal catalogue, but actually has lots of creative possibilities and is especially useful for clean and simple cards. I especially love the bright primary colours of this card - very me!

Here's today's visual summary for easy reference:

That's all from me today; I've had a day of housework and errands today so am having a quiet evening before getting back to it all again tomorrow. Back then with a card for this week's new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary where we have a fun colour challenge in store for you. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Welcome Words Photopolymer Stamp Set	Many Marvelous Markers	Pacific Point A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Brights Designer Series Paper Stack	Metallic Foil Doilies	Banner Triple Punch	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad