It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Wei has asked that we create something with the following layout:

 Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I wanted to showcase one of my most favourite retiring circles of all time, one of the circles from the Stitched Shapes Dies (unfortunately already out of stock and discontinued by the time you read this):

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

I chose to feature Magenta Madness as the colour with my black and white colour combo today for the current challenge over at Color Dare, but this card would work paired with any colour. I cut a partial circle from the front of my card and infilled it with a piece of window sheet, and added a stitched circle to the acetate panel. I added a sheet of In-Colour DSP with a circle pattern to the inside of my card so that a small portion of it could be seen through my cardfront. Whilst the outside of my card has plenty of white space, inside there's not so much! Wondering what I did with the piece of cardstock I removed to accommodate my window sheet? I flipped it and adhered it to the inside of my card to write my greeting:

 Waste not, want not and all that! I added a stacked birthday diecut from the retiring Well Written dies along with a stamped greeting from 'A Wish For Everything' to complete the front of my card:

Super simple but I really like it! What do you think? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WELL WRITTEN DIES (EN) (£37.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)
WINDOW SHEETS (£4.75)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	A WISH FOR EVERYTHING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£36.00)

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

I used Julee's Mojo Monday sketch and another of my favourite retiring stamp sets to create some less-than-traditional florals - take a look:

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

Beautiful Friendship - I chose to create a cluster of florals as the centrepiece for today's card using the 'Beautiful Friendship' stamp set. I thought those large, loose-petalled roses would be perfect in Merry Merlot, with some grape hyacinths in Misty Moonlight, along with some Crumb Cake leaves. This is not only my most favourite floral stamp set in the retiring annual catalogue, it is I think one of my favourite floral stamp sets of all time (and a keeper for sure!) 

Well Written - I decided to add a diecut sentiment using the retiring Well-Written framelits to the front of my card, cutting the word 'friend' twice and offsetting it to give a shadow - you can see the detail closer in the image below:

A ribbon bow tied with twine finished the front of my card.

And Finally - In addition to the stitched scallop rectangle that I used on the front of my card, I stamped the greeting from the stamp set on a stitched rectangle and added it to the centre of the inside of my card, along with a stamped corner floral detail:

I thought I would struggle with this colour combination, but I actually really liked LeAnne's colour choices this week. I'm also linking today's card up over at Just Add Ink - my card features petals and leaves as my chosen 'two'. 

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; it's been really cold here these past few days so I'm thinking today will be spent indoors with a little more Lego building and family fun. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£20.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	BE MINE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	WELL WRITTEN DIES (EN) (£37.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)
MISTY MOONLIGHT 2020–2022 IN COLOR RIBBON (£5.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MERRY MERLOT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards that I was meant to share on Saturday but having had a frustrating afternoon of creativity, ran out of time so thought I'd squeeze them in today! Jen Timko has a great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I so wanted to play along:

I had been using one of the patterns in the Ornate Garden DSP pack, originally for my Paper Players card, although I ended up not really liking the end result so made a different one (in case you're getting confused, having already read yesterday's post!) Part of the problem was that these papers have such bold, bright colours that they really don't lend themselves to anything too layered and fussy in my view, so I decided to use them instead with Jen's sketch to make a couple of thank you cards with an altogether more clean and simple look. I made a couple of cards - here's the first one:

This one is my favourite with the daisy-only pattern, but I also made a second one using another of the busy floral papers in the pack:

On both I kept the sentiments simple, layering a couple of offset thanks diecuts from the retiring Well-Written Dies onto a stitched rectangle, with a border using the already out-of-stock retiring Ornate Borders die. So here's both of them together - do you have a preference?

I'm not sure I will ever love these papers, however I was pleased with these cards - more than the one I started out with, for sure!

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. 

Enjoy your day and I'll be back shortly with another couple of posts - including another one using Jen's fabulous sketch! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WELL WRITTEN DIES (EN) (£37.00)	ORNATE GARDEN DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£12.60)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	MINT MACARON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

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

I pondered Laurie's sketch this week and resisted the urge to go clean and simple and instead went for lots of layers and details. I'm on a mission to use up some of my designer series paper (well, I need to justify buying the new designs when the new catalogue arrives!) so decided I would make one the focus of my card - take a look:

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

Mosaic Mood - I received a free pack of Mosaic Mood paper at Onstage when the current catalogue was launched and I have to confess it wasn't a pattern that I was immediately drawn to. I didn't like the accompanying stamp set and left to my own devices I probably would not have purchased it at all. Truth is, this paper has surprised me - I have had lots of fun with it, cutting out the patterns and stripes and have made lots of projects with it. It was a good choice for my card today - I chose a background pattern and then a floral for the framed centre and decorated my frame with a fussy cut rose and leaves. Funny how things work out, right?

Heirloom Frames - I used one of the embossed Heirloom Frames to separate my two designs. The texture adds interest and detail to the layers on my card.

A Well Written Sentiment - The team over at TGIF Challenges are featuring diecut sentiments on their projects for the current challenge and that was just what I needed for my sentiment still to have impact and be seen. I chose to use the 'birthday' from the Well Written Framelits - they are perfect paired with the 'Well Said' stamp set, both of which are carrying over into the new catalogue I am pleased to say - these are keepers!

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; I spent the morning crafting yesterday so have lots to share with you this week! Yesterday turned into a glorious day of sunshine so we enjoyed time outside and an evening BBQ, with a welcome break from online lessons. Hopefully today will allow for more of the same! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Woven Heirlooms Bundle	Mosaic Mood Specialty Designer Series Paper	Well Written Dies	Well Said Cling Stamp Set	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla 3/8" (1 Cm) Scalloped Lace Trim	Iridescent Sequin Assortment

No post from me yesterday I'm afraid as I was out hosting a Stampin' Up! party at the lovely Jane's house for her and all her friends and I didn't get a chance to post before I left. We had a fun evening of Christmas crafting, with delicious cake thrown in (the refreshments at Jane's always make the visit worthwhile!) I'm back to it today and just have time to squeeze in an entry for this week's challenge over at Just Add Ink: 

I loved this week's inspiration photo and it led me to create a card with a rather modern twist - take a look:

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

A Word About Inspiration - As my regular readers know, sketches are often my 'go to' starting point when I make a card, however sometimes inspiration comes from other areas. When it's a photo such as the one that inspired today's card, it can be interpreted in so many different ways. I knew I wanted to use florals, ideally tulips, and bright colours. It struck me that the photo had clearly defined lines of tulips within the borders and I decided it might be fun to use this idea on my card too. So I chose to create three distinct rows of flowers in each of the colours on the photo (I stamped them tone-on-tone then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder; difficult to see on the photo, but gives a lovely texture and shine) and backed them with a pale green Soft Sea Foam panel and a white card base. Using the cardstock in each of the colours, rather than stamping the flowers onto white and/or colouring them gives a strong, graphic feel to my card. Check out the JAI gallery to see how the DT team and other participants interpreted this week's inspiration! 

Not Just For Grandmas - My flower borders are made up by repeat-stamping the stamp featuring a trio of flowers (one is a tulip!) from the 'Grandma's House' stamp set. Whilst this set is all about the love of and for Grandmas, both this flower stamp and the house stamp in the set open up other creative possibilities - general birthdays, new home or pretty much anything that a flower can be used for! It's worth taking a second look at this kind of set, as they are often more versatile than they first appear.

The Perfect Pair - I finished my card with a diecut sentiment using the 'Well Written' framelits, paired with the super useful 'Well Said' stamp set. Together they can be used to create a ton of different sentiments for a wide variety of occasions - here's a peek at the inside of my card where you can see how I used it to finish my card: 

So what do you think - does this design work or would you have preferred a more traditional take on the photo inspiration? Do leave me a comment below - I would 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:

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; mine's a busy one. The youngest of the James Juniors is captaining his school rugby team this afternoon, hopefully to victory. Either way, I'm sure he will have a great time and one things for sure - there will be a fair amount of muddy kit heading my way this evening! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Grandma's House Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Well Written Dies (£37.00)	Well Said Cling Stamp Set (£42.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blackberry Bliss A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)	Clear Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)

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 she has a colour challenge for you to work with:

I really liked LeAnne's colour combo this week and I have a real shortage of male birthday cards in my box at the moment, especially for young boys (a whole bunch of Ben's friends have had birthdays lately with still more to come in the next couple of months), so that's where I decided to focus my efforts this week. I have two cards to share with you today, both featuring the Little Elephant set. They both use this week's sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch; here's the first one:

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

I did some simple layering and inset my punched elephant carrying his balloons inside a circle aperture cut with my Layering Circle Dies, then overlayed a stacked diecut sentiment, cut with the Well Written Framelits, that I brushed with clear Wink of Stella for added sparkle. I also made a super clean and simple version that I am going to link up over at Less Is More for their theme of 'Celebrations' this week:

I switched the colours around and punched out the elephant's ear to ring the changes and for both cards I decorated the envelopes and the insides too. My Stamparatus made it easy to line up the balloon and the elephant's trunk - love that tool!

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. 

Having made these cards I decided they were maybe a little too youthful for my 'pre-teens' so I used this colour combo to make another masculine, more grown up card that I will share with you on Tuesday, so if you like this colour combo, be sure to pop back then and take a look.

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; I will be glued to the TV this afternoon enjoying the Wimbledon Men's Final - the culmination of two fantastic weeks of grass court tennis and spending some quality time with my boys since we are still Rebecca-less, as she continues to experience the delights of life with a German family (only 3 more days t go!) I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Little Elephant Cling-Mount Stamp Set (£19.00)	Elephant Builder Punch (£17.00)	Layering Circles Dies (£33.00)	Well Written Dies (£37.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card using the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches and the current colour palette at Fab Friday:

My card features a technique that is currently all the rage and I've been wanting to have a go at - the floating frame technique. This actually means I have two cards for you! Here's the first one:

And here's the second one, featuring the outer frame element:

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

Floating Frames - The floating frame technique is really easy to create with a few basic tools: some 'Press and Seal' food wrap or similar, a framelit - I used my Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies - and lots of dimensionals! You simply stamp and punch/diecut your images, lay them out, cover with Press and Seal, trim to frame size and cut out your central piece, before adhering dimensionals to the back of the diecut pieces and adhering to your chosen card base. Finally you remove the Press and Seal and your floating shapes remain in place. Jennifer McGuire has a fabulous video on this technique if you want to see one of these cards being made - you can see it here. 

Birthday Balloons - I've seen some fabulous examples of this technique, mostly using florals, but I was in need of some birthday cards and I thought the colours over at Fab Friday would be perfect for some bright and colourful balloons. I had so much fun making these cards I'm going to make a few more in alternative colour combos too - this is a great card design that would work well for both boys and girls, so makes a great storecupboard standby. I stamped my balloons with one of the stamps in the 'Happy Birthday Gorgeous' stamp set before punching them for added interest and I used one of the other balloon stamps in the set to decorate the envelope, as you can see below:

No need for a naked envelope here!

A Birthday Greeting - For my second card, I needed a larger greeting to sit inside my frame so my Well Written Framelits were the perfect choice. I also added an extra balloon for balance, tied with some white baker's twine. The same design could be used with other stamps and sentiments from this set too to make cards for other occasions - how many other combinations can you come up with? 

Here are the visual summaries of the key products used on today's projects 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. 

Enjoy your day; we are having a kit clear-out in the playroom today. So far we've made an erupting volcano, an insect hut, a flying helicopter and two solar-powered motorised dinosaurs. You've got to love the Easter holidays! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Balloon Bouquet Punch (£17.00)	Happy Birthday Gorgeous Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Flirty Flamingo Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Flirty Flamingo A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Well Written Framelits Dies (£37.00)

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

I chose something with layers and whilst the uppermost layer with the sentiment on is arrow-shaped, any horizontal shape would work in this space. I actually have a couple of cards to share with you today. Firstly the card I actually made for today's challenge using my favourite papers for the Spring-Summer catalogue - take a look:

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

A Well Written Tag - I made the top layer of my card into a tag using my Scalloped Tag Topper Punch and used it as the focal point for my main greeting cut using the Well Written Framelits, finished with a tiny bit of stamping that I punched out and shortened with my Classic Label Punch. I added a few flowers from the same set, finished with some Bitty Blooms punched leaves and some navy enamel dot centres.

Happiness Blooms - The gorgeous bold and bright florals of the Happiness Blooms Designer Series Paper set the tone and colour scheme for my card today. I resisted the urge to use my favourite navy pattern in this set and instead chose the gorgeous Calypso Coral/Night Of Navy/Call Me Clover/ Whisper White combo, with a contrasting striped design for my second layer of pattern. I finished off the inside of my card and envelope with another sentiment from the 'Well Said' stamp set and some stamped flowers using 'Bloom by Bloom'. Such a colourful and cheerful card - very me! 

My Original Inspiration - I actually designed this sketch before Christmas and used it for a card in one of my monthly technique classes. I realised during an exchange of messages with my fellow PP teamie the lovely Claire that I hadn't actually blogged that card, and whilst the papers that I used (Festive Farmhouse) are no longer available, the Merry Christmas Thinlits Dies and Merry Christmas To All stamp set are on carryover from the Autumn-Winter catalogue and still available, so I thought I would share with you too so that you can see how it looks with an alternative product set:

So two for one today! Which one do you prefer? I'd love you to leave a comment below.

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

And for the Christmas version:

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. 

I'm looking forward to visiting your blogs to see what you make of my sketch this week. Enjoy your day; I will be packing up the youngest of the James Juniors in readiness for a week-long school trip tomorrow and preparing for the imminent arrival of a German exchange student who is visiting to spend time improving her English language skills with the other one! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (£22.00)	Well Said Cling Bundle (£71.00)	Happiness Blooms 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Happiness Blooms A4 Cardstock Pack (£8.00)	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Classic Label Punch (£17.00)	Whisper White 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Flax Ribbon (£6.50)	Happiness Blooms Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Bloom By Bloom Photopolymer Stamp Set (£16.00)	Bitty Blooms Punch Pack (£21.00)

Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (£22.00)	Merry Christmas Thinlits Dies (£26.00)	Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Very Vanilla A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Basic Black Solid Baker's Twine (£2.75)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

T

Happy Monday everyone! Today is the start of my class week, so it will b a busy one Chez James! Today's card is one I made that uses the current sketch layout over at Just Add Ink and the colour palette at Color Throwdown:

I thought these colours would be perfect for a birthday card featuring one of the Sale-A-Bration stamp sets, Lovely Lattice - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Lovely Lattice - There is lots you can do with this stamped image - many ways to colour it, and lots of options to cut it out and build layers and dimension with the flowers too - but I like it because the main image is one of those that can fill the card and there isn't much else required. I heat embossed my image in white onto Crumb Cake cardstock which really does show the detail of the lattice behind the flowers beautifully. For a free stamp set, this one really is rather pretty - and still available if you'd like to get your hands on it with a spend of £45 or more. Who doesn't love FREE product?!

Colour on Kraft - I decided to colour the image using my watercolour pencils, but dry with no added water for blending, as I wanted to see the pencil strokes; I used a combination of Gorgeous Grape, white and Basic Grey pencils, with a tiny spot of Crushed Curry for the flower stamens. 

Birthday Wishes - The 'Lovely Lattice' stamp set is sentiment-free, so I reached for one of my favourites from the current Spring-Summer catalogue that you haven't seen me use much here on my blog but rest assured they will be a keeper for me, regardless of whether or not they carry over to this year's new annual catalogue: the Well Said bundle. The' Well Said' stamp set combined with the Well Written Framelits dies really are the perfect pair and allow you to create endless sentiment combinations. I added a piece of Gorgeous Grape mini striped ribbon behind my layered sentiment and a sprinkling of pearls to complete 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Lovely Lattice Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)	Well Said Cling Bundle (£71.00)	Gorgeous Grape 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Mini Striped Ribbon (£7.50)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Gorgeous Grape A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Highland Heather A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	Watercolor Pencils (£15.00)

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

Today's card is something of a departure from my usual 'clean' style and is choc-full of detail, so I hope you like it! I've gone pastel with this week's Global Design Project colours and whilst not for Valentine's my card is definitely all about love so is perfect for the Stamp Ink Paper challenge too - take a look:

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

Time For Tea - The moment I laid eyes on the 'Tea Together' stamp set in the Spring-Summer catalogue, I knew it would have to find it's way into my shopping basket: as a self-confessed 'teapot' who often drinks between 6 and 8 cups of tea a day, it was bound to appeal, but the clincher was that it was paired with some wonderful Mother's Day sentiments too and the only person I know who drinks more tea each day than me is my Mum, so it seemed a perfect choice. Add to this the fact that the co-ordinating Tea Together Framelits Dies that cut out each of the elements, including the flowers, are available free during Sale-A-Bration with a £90 purchase and that was it - decision made! I decided to continue with my watercolouring phase and for today's teacup and flowers, as it suited the subtle, pastel colours and coloured, cut and layered until I was happy with the result.

Flourishes and Lace - I added additional detail to my background with a combination of an embossed panel - check out that fabulous lace effect detail - and some Petal Pink flourishes, carefully snipped from the new Beautifully Detailed Laser-Cut Paper, which is helpfully already coloured Petal Pink on one side (and white on the other side). Along with a few punched flowers and pearls, I'm really going for the vintage look and feel today. 

A Mother's Love - I've been liberal with my interpretation of Jaydee's sketch, but you can still see the basic circular shape represented by my tea cup full of flowers and my horizontal overlaid sentiment, accentuated by stamping only part of the sentiment on the teacup and substituting the masked word 'love' with a stacked diecut, courtesy of the Well Written Framelits. Whilst I would definitely agree with the sentiment on the front of this card, the sentiment from the 'Tea Together' set really is one of the most wonderful we have had in a stamp set for a long time:

The perfect finishing touch for my Mother's Day 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 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; we are finishing up on our homework today along with the dreaded tax returns (each year I tell myself I will make time to process them well in advance of the deadline, yet it never happens!) Hopefully I will finish in time to sneak into my craft room for a quick make or two. Either way, I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Tea Together Cling Stamp Set (£20.00)	Tea Time Framelits Dies (£0.00)	Lace Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Beautifully Detailed Laser-Cut Specialty Paper (£13.00)	Well Written Framelits Dies (£37.00)
Bitty Blooms Punch Pack (£21.00)	Soft Sea Foam Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Soft Sea Foam A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	So Saffron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Petal Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Petal Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Aqua Painters (£16.00)	Watercolor Paper (£4.75)	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)