Hello everyone! Did you miss me? My extended blogging break wasn't anticipated. I have had a few big things on of late: a girly weekend, a thirteenth birthday to prepare for and celebrate and I was performing in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat along with the youngest of my James Juniors on Friday evening. Add to that a persistent knee injury from running that finally resulted in me needing an extended course of physiotherapy to put right, along with a spell of single parenting and well, as you can probably tell, family and school life has somewhat got in the way! I still held a couple of wonderful launch parties to welcome the arrival of the new catalogue, my class schedule is uninterrupted and I have been finalising the details for my next 2 retreats (I will blog these another time but meanwhile you can read all about them here) but blogging has had to take something of a back seat.

However, today is Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'm a little late but here nevertheless! It's the turn of the marvellous Jaydee to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Thank heavens this week was clean and simple - although I must confess I had a couple of aborted attempts in order to achieve today's card - not enough time spent in my craft room, methinks! I eventually settled on a bright and colourful thank you card  - take a look:

I decided to go with a thank you card (we always need those, right?!) and some bright and colourful banners courtesy of the 'Pick a Pennant' stamp set and this week's challenge colours over at Just Add Ink featuring amongst others the new vibrant Granny Apple Green - love it! Now I know the challenge is 'clean and simple - birds' and there's only one feathered friend present amongst all those banners, but he's there and so I'm hoping that counts! I stamped my banners directly onto my one layer card, stamping the backgrounds off once to better highlight the patterns, whilst fussy cutting my bird and bows as I'm still waiting for my framelits to arrive.

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. Today's card really is clean and simple - stamps, ink and paper: the 3 things Stampin' Up! do best!

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

I can't wait to see your clean and simple creations and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back as soon as I can with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Pick A Pennant Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

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 you to work with - I used the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colour palette at TGIF Challenges as the basis for my card too:

I chose my theme for this challenge ages ago but knew as soon as I received the set 'Animal Outing' in my bag at Onstage that it would have to be my set of choice for my card today - take a look:

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

Animal Antics - I didn't think it was possible for a rhino to look cute, but the chap on my card today with his birdie friend is definitely a cutie to me! Along with a koala-carrying kangaroo, a giraffe and a frog, this pair make up the collection of animals in the 'Animal Outing' stamp set, which forms part of the Animal Expedition suite - a bundle of animal themed stamps and framelits with a range of sentiments that make this set work for a variety of of occasions: thank you, new baby, friend, birthday, anniversary and more. There are also co-ordinating papers, leaf ribbon and wooden frames elements - this is a set that I'm sure I'm going to get lots more use out of in the coming months so watch this space for more projects! I stamped my cute pair onto a stitched circle and coloured them with my Stampin' Blends.

Layered Leaves - I layered my stitched circle onto a rectangle of Old Olive cardstock, embossed with the Lovely Leaves embossing folder - this is a firm favourite of mine, it adds great detail and texture and I really like the way the random leaf pattern. There is just enough detail to add interest behind the image whilst still retaining an overall CAS feel to my card.

A New Trio - My embellishments are minimal, in fact just some Night of Navy baker's twine, but I did want to point out something that you might have missed both on my card and in the new catalogue: I rounded the corners on my embossed panel, as per the sketch, using the new Detailed Trio Punch. Found on page 211 of the new catalogue, this punch rounds corners, creates an oval-shaped eyelet and a pretty trio of petals that will add a subtle detail to your layers. Very useful!

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 can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs 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: 

Detailed Trio Punch (£19.00)	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Animal Outing Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Night Of Navy Medium Baker's Twine (£2.75)

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

I struggled a little with my card this week; I think too much time spent on admin and not enough crafting, coupled with new catalogue syndrome (so many new things to play with and a ton of things on their way out, sometimes it's hard to know where to start!) left me feeling a little stuck for inspiration. Eventually I decided to go pink and have a play with my stamps and papers from the new Garden Impressions Suite - take a look:

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

Garden Impressions - The new Garden Impressions Suite is a collection of papers and images inspired by Impressionist art. The abstract florals and paper patterns are reminiscent of Monet's fabulous flowers and garden at Giverny, with broad brushstrokes and bold use of colour. I know this is going to be one of my favourite sets in the new catalogue.

Abstract Flowers - Having chosen the pink floral paper, I set about creating a single stamped abstract flower on a layered circle, stamping off the first layer and stamping layers two and three at full strength. These stamps are super-easy to line up and I just love the loose abstract effect. 

A Pink Pair - I used a combination of white and the two pinks in the designer series paper, melon Mambo and Powder Pink, as the colours for my card today - here they are if you would like to save them for your future inspiration:

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'm still not sure about this card - I added the ribbon as I felt it needed a little something, but I don't know if it works? Maybe it's just too pink?! I do love that sentiment though.

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

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK so are looking forward to an extra day and hopefully some BBQ weather too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Abstract Impressions Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Garden Impressions 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)	Petals & More Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Powder Pink 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'm back following my week off and raring to go. It's the turn of the wonderful Laurie to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Remember in addition to the theme of "blooms", this week is a Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenge!  What do we mean by CAS?

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Simple and uncluttered

I have a couple of cards of cards to share with you today (and another tomorrow!) that fit this week's theme. I decided to use the retiring 'Definitely Dahlia' stamp for my cards today, and was very much inspired by our badge this week created by the oh-so-talented Nance. Here's my single clean and simple bloom:

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

Farewell Definitely Dahlia - I will miss the 'Definitely Dahlia' background stamp, as it is so great for CAS cards. Whether you simply stamp 'as is' (see my uber-CAS card below) or do as I have here, where I inked with two colours to create a two-tone effect, this is a stamp that needs little else for a clean and simple card - the stamp really does much of the work.

Hello Pineapple Punch - I used one of the new in-colours, Pineapple Punch, to create the base layer of colour for my dahlia, stamping off once before adding some Melon Mambo pink with a sponge dauber to the petal edges to create a pretty two-tone effect. This adds a little more depth and interest to the final stamped image. I really like the new in-colours this year - they work so well as a collection and compliment many of the other colours in our palette.

Amazing You - I finished my card with a stamped and diecut sentiment from the 'Celebrate You' thinlits set - can't wait for these to become available in the new catalogue, you know how much I love a diecut thinlit :-) 

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 I go, here's another version of the same card, this time super clean-and-simple in style, that I made for the current mix it up challenge over at Sugar Pea Designs, using both sketch and photo inspiration:

Whilst I didn't choose a rose for my flower, I did go with the pale pink and a single bloom, and I used the sketch. Here's my card:

I simply stamped my dahlia in retiring Pink Pirouette ink, stamping off once to get a pale flower, heat embossed my sentiment from another retiring stamp set, Remarkable You, in silver and mounted on a Pink Pirouette card base. 

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Definitely Dahlia Wood-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Celebrate You Thinlit Dies (£21.00)	Sponge Daubers (£4.50)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our fearsome leader, the fabulous Nance, to host this week and she has a rather pretty theme challenge for you to work with:

This challenge was made for me as I am a dedicated tea drinker! Coffee not so much, but I can drink as many as 10 cups of tea a day on average - definitely my drink of choice! I don't have much current product with a tea theme though, so wondered how I was going to tackle Nance's challenge this week, when I remembered the colouring paper in the current catalogue and voila - both my card and an accompanying little tea-related gift were created! First up, my card:

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

Just Add Color - One of the patterns in the Just Add Color Specialty Designer Series Paper pack is a sheet covered in all kinds of tea cups and teapots, so I cut a strip from the top of a sheet of paper, grabbed my Stampin' Blends and got to work. I went for a longer, thinner card this week and allowed the DSP pattern to dictate the dimensions for my card base.

Get Blending - Given that some of the teacups contain succulents rather than tea, this week's colour palette over at The Color Throwdown was perfect for my project. I used my Calypso Coral, Old Olive and Crumb Cake Blends, with the top portion coloured in Ivory. This paper is both very thick and matt, so alcohol markers do not blend quite as well as they do on Whisper White. This is particularly noticable on the larger areas such as the table and wall behind the teaset, however I quite like the effect - it gives an almost chalk effect, like rough plaster, so certainly works on my card.

Anyone For Tea? - Having completed my card, I was left with an offcut of DSP with a teapot and teacup. Rather than put this in my scrap box never to be seen again, I decided to use it up so coloured it and made a little tea bag holder containing a few wrapped tea bags that I could gift with my card. I also added a sentiment from the retired set 'Have A Cuppa', mounted on a punched scallop circle - here it is:

I cut my tea bag holder larger than was actually needed to accommodate the tea bags, as I didn't want to cut down the DSP; I just made my wrap and tea bag envelope holders, made with the Envelope Punch Board, slightly larger too. This is what it looks like on the inside - I used some Whole Lot of Lovely designer series paper for my little tea bag envelope pockets:

Did you spot the little tea pot trinket embellishment too? This is retired but it's at times like this I'm so glad I hoard these bits and pieces, as it finished off my package a treat :-) I love this fun set - I think I might send it to my Mum, as she is a keen tea drinker too.

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 can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a 3 day weekend here in the UK as it's a national Bank Holiday on Monday and for once the weather is glorious, so I will definitely be outside making the most of it. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Just Add Color Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Old Olive 3/8" Mini Chevron Ribbon (£6.25)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£14.50)	Whole Lot Of Lovely Designer Series Paper (£10.00)
Linen Thread (£4.25)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It just so happens there are 5 Sundays in April, so we have an extra challenge week! It's my turn to host and as it's tic-tac-toe week there really are so many creative possibilities. Check out my board: 

Choices, choices! I decided to use this week's sketch over at Just Add Ink for my layout and grabbed my Blends again for a spot of colouring to share with the teams at Stamp Ink Paper and SUO Challenges and went across the bottom of my board - yellow, circle, bird (my card also works for the central column of die-cut, ribbon, circle too) - for a sweet baby card, take a look:

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

Flying Home - I love the bird house designs in this set and will be sad to see this set retire next month. Perfect for welcome cards - new home, new baby or even new team member - the selection of images are perfect for colouring too. This is the first time I've used this sweet mama bird and her babies; I went with bright yellow for a unisex baby card and coloured with my Blends; I actually made a whole batch of these so that I have some blanks and can colour the other birds specifically pink or blue too if I need something a little more tailored. 

Circles, Circles - There are lots of different circle elements to my card: the Picture Perfect Party background paper has a fun circle pattern and my main image has been cut out with the largest of my Stitched Circle Framelits. Even the sprinkle of Pool Party sequins add to the theme.

What No Bear? - My sentiment comes from the 'Baby Bear' stamp set. split between the little front banner and finished on the inside of my card. No bears, just birds on today's baby card ;-). Here's a look at the inside, finished off with a couple of yellow birdies too:

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 can't wait to see what you create with this week's board - there really are so many different combinations! I'm so looking forward to visiting your blogs 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: 

Flying Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£16.00)	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£27.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Daffodil Delight 1/4" Double-Stitched Ribbon (£6.25)	Iridescent Sequin Assortment (£4.50)
Baby Bear Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)

Apologies for the lack of blog posts this week but the weather has taken a turn for the better here in the UK so I have taken the opportunity to spend some time giving my garden some much-needed TLC and enjoying spending time outdoors with the youngest of my James Juniors who is still on Easter break until early next week. Today it's Sunday though and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the wonderful Jaydee to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

So many ways I could have gone with this one! In the end I decided that having spent some time this week sorting through the old to make way for the new, it would be a great opportunity to share some retiring favourites with you  - take a look:

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

A Birthday Marquee Message - I have had a lot of fun with this stamp set: great for invitations, birthdays and more general celebrations, Marquee messages works for clean and simple and more detailed and layered cards. Here I've heat-embossed the outlines in silver and paper-pieced the various elements together, stamping the central wording with my Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Blends. To finish I added a whole bunch of rhinestones to the arrow - it made a fair dent in a new packet, but it was so worth it for the finished effect - after all, who doesn't want their birthday message up in lights?! 

Pick A Neutral Pattern - I decided to use something with a little pattern for my background, but that wouldn't detract from my focal point sign and this black and white pattern from the Pick A Pattern designer series paper collection was the perfect choice. 

Colour Movers and Shakers - My card also features two colours that are about to retire and one that is about to move colour families as a result of the Colour Revamp. I will miss Island Indigo more than Tangerine Tango for sure, but am very exciting by the new colours that will be joining our new families in their place. My third colour, Real Red, is thankfully sticking around, but moving from Brights to Regals as part of the reshuffle. Here are today's colours should you wish to save this colour combo, but remember - you only have until May 7th to guarantee supplies of the retiring colours, so be sure to stock up before they're gone:

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 can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I am hoping to get out into the garden again and enjoy the rest of the nice weather before it departs and leaves us with cooler temperatures later this week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Marquee Messages Photopolymer Stamp Set (£19.00)	Pick A Pattern Designer Series Paper (£10.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Island Indigo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.50)
Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.50)	Versamark Pad (£7.75)

Happy Monday everyone! It's a tad chilly here in the UK but the sun is trying to shine, so I'll take that as the start to a good week! Today is the last day of the Easter holidays for one of the James Juniors at least so we are making the most of it! I'm sharing a card that I made at the weekend for one of my favourite challenges, As You See It (it's been too long since I've played along with these lovely ladies!) and uses the fresh Spring colour palette over at The Color Throwdown:

My card today says farewell to one of my favourite florals from the Annual Catalogue - which makes it perfect for the current challenge over at SUO Challenges too - take a look:

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

Farewell Flower - 'You've Got This' is one of my favourite florals and I will be sad to see it retire next month, I love that single peony-like bloom and the hatched background is so useful, both as a background for this flower and lots of other projects too. Here I've used it in one of my favourite ways, fussy cutting the flower and popping up on dimensionals. I stamped the background onto my white cardbase in Pool Party and coloured my flower with my Daffodil Delight Blends and retired Wild Wasabi Blendabilities alcohol markers.  

Raindrops On Petals - I added a few glitter epoxy raindrops onto my flower petals and leaves for a little sparkle and detail, without detracting from the flower itself. You can see them better on the close-up here:

As You See It - I was intrigued by the current As You See it sketch: whilst my hatched background is not as brave as some of the beautiful watercoloured or inked backgrounds of the design team, I think it does a good job of representing the idea of the sketch. The thing I like the most about the sketch though is the positioning of the sentiment; having rotated the sketch through 90 degrees, this put my sentiment running sideways along the central fold of my card. This is not a position that I would have naturally chosen for my wording, yet I think it really rings the changes and I love the finished card. I love how sketches encourage us to push the boundaries of convention sometimes.

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. 

Yes, I will miss this stamp and the wonderfully uplifting and encouraging sentiments that go with it - I 'm not too sad though, a new catalogue always provides opportunities for new favourites to come along!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

You've Got This Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£25.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)

Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

Basic Gray Archival Stampin’ Pad (£6.50)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the awesomely artistic Sandy's turn to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with and a fun 'magical' theme:

I used this week's sketch from Freshly Made Sketches again (Karren definitely came up trumps with this one!) and just had to go with unicorns for my card today - take a look:

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

Myths And Magic - So I broke one of my 'clean and simple' rules with today's card in my use of designer series paper across the whole of my card front; this Myths and Magic DSP is to good to cut down though. I am happy to pass up my 'white space' for these sweet, sparkly unicorns - I love them! Each and every one of them shimmers with glitter. 

A Magical Unicorn Day - I stamped and coloured another unicorn to anchor my sentiment and covered the body of this one in Dazzling Diamonds glitter too - Wink of Stella wasn't enough for this one! I also added a trio of pearls that I coloured with my Pool Party Stampin' Blends. My unicorn had to be pink - this is headed for a girly girl, so nothing else would do.

Fairy Words - I added a solid banner of Melon Mambo to back my skinny sentiment, taken from the 'Fairy Celebration' set, as this suited the sketch better than those in Magical Day. 

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 am so sad that this set is retiring at the end of May - it's one of my favourites in the current seasonal catalogue and I haven't used it nearly enough! Rebecca is obsessed with mermaids and unicorns, so I know I will get plenty more use from it yet; I definitely won't be parting with it anytime soon, for sure.

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

Don't forget the theme is clean and simple this week - so minimal layers and embellishments and aim for lots of white space. I can't wait to see what you create and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We are finally getting some nice weather here in the UK so I will be aiming to spend as much time outdoors as possible; I think Spring may finally be on its way. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Magical Day Wood-Mount Stamp Set (£27.00)	Myths & Magic Specialty Designer Series Paper (£11.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£6.50)	Fairy Celebration Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£17.00)	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (£4.50)
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

I've been away at Stampin' Up!'s UK Onstage event for the last couple of days, having a ball with some of my team and lots of my fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrators. Today it's Sunday though, I'm back and it's time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my awesome friend LeAnne to host this week and she has a fun colour challenge for you to work with:

I love purples although was a little short on time to prepare my card for this week so I decided to go for a large focal sentiment to help me along the way this week. It was a good opportunity to open my as yet un-inked Floral Sentiments stamp set  - take a look:

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

Floral Statements - I chose the feature the large 'Thanks' sentiment from the Floral Statements stampset and coloured it with a mix of markers: my 3 retired Wisteria Wonder Blandabilities for the petals and my Tranquil Tide Stampin' Write marker for the leaves. This stamp set is great as it really does much of the work for you - it doesn't leave room for much else! 

Layered Leaves - I backed my stamped panel with an offset panel of Elegant Eggplant that I embossed with my layered leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder; I know you can't see much of it, yet the peeks of texture add a welcome added detail.

Drops of Glitter - I added a few of the Glitter and Clear epoxy dots, along with some clear Wink of Stella on the flower petals and a sliver of doily, to complete my card.

This card really was quick to put together with some built in de-stress as a result of the time it took to colour it in too - bonus! In hindsight, I wish I'd heat embossed the stamp in black for a little more shine and contrast; something to try next time.

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 can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend; my day will hopefully be a quiet one as I relax with my new catalogue for the umpteenth time to drool over the new stamp sets and product coming our way. Do come  back tomorrow as I will have lots of important announcements with regard to this month's retirement list; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Floral Statements Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£16.00)	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Elegant Eggplant A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Wisteria Wonder A4 Cardstock (£7.25)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.50)	Glitter & Clear Epoxy Shapes (£6.25)