Happy Bank Holiday Monday to everyone in the UK and to those celebrating memorial Day in the US I hope your day is a reflective one. Today I'm sharing a card using this week's colour palette over at CAS Colours and Sketches and the sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I love this bright colour palette and combined it with an almost no-stamping card to say farewell to a favourite die set from the retiring annual catalogue - take a look:

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

Farewell May Flowers - The lovely Narelle who designed this week's FMS sketch is famed for her fabulous flowers (check out her card this week and you will see what I mean - gorgeous!) so there was only one way for me to go this week. My single diecut dahlia along with a pair of leaves from the retiring May Flowers Framelits Dies really allows these bright colours to shine. 

A Simple Sentiment - Another retiring set, Thoughtful Banners, gave me my simple sentiment, that I heat embossed in white onto Basic Black cardstock so that it would stand out.

A Trio of Glimmer - To finish my card, I added a simple trio of Coastal Cabana glimmer dots for a little sparkle.

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:

May Flowers Framelits Dies (£29.00)	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)

I've had a full day today with a group of lovely ladies at my extended technique class. I'll be sharing more of those cards in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch that also uses the current colour palette over at Fab Friday:

I was intrigued by the lovely Hannelie's sketch this week and whilst my instinct was to run a mile at the five bright colours over at Fab Friday, I suddenly had an idea that worked perfectly for me when I combined both challenges - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Summer Seasonal Layers - I decided to use a bright, white adirondack chair diecut cut with my Seasonal Layers Thinlits for the silhouette motif - complete with cooling lemonade drink on the side for the focal point of my card. It's the perfect fit with that summery colour palette too.

Block That Colour - The five summer colours of the Fab Friday colour palette could be a challenge to use on a single card without them becoming overwhelming. The sketch though allows them to be used for big, bold blocks of colour that have impact whilst balanced by the large expanse of white space that surround them.  Perfect!

Holiday Wishes - What sentiment to use on my summery card? I am soon off on my summer vacation and seriously looking forward to whiling away the hours in a chair just like this, with a drink by my side, enjoying the warmth and generally relaxing into my holiday idyll. I created a customised sentiment using the Thoughtful Banners stamp set  - what better way to send someone on their summer travels?

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. 

I'll be back tomorrow with another project. I'm hoping for the return of warmer weather here tomorrow as otherwise I will have a couple of boisterous, stir-crazy boys on my hands as we have a friend coming over to play. Wish me luck!   Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies	Colorful Seasons Photopolymer Stamp Set	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad
Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock	Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock

Today I've a quick second post - you can see my earlier post for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players here - with my card for this week's challenge over at The Challenge, which also happens to use the sketch I used for yesterday's card from the team over at The Global Design Project:

I'm really enjoying playing along with the lovely ladies over at The Challenge again. I love those bright flowers and the striped arms of the chair worked perfectly with the sketch and inspired me to create something clean and modern - take a look:

I used my Oh So Eclectic stamp set and co-ordinating Eclectic Layers Thinlits Dies for my flowers, offsetting the layers, and combined with some stripes in black on my white card base, courtesy of the Thoughtful Banners set, which I used for my sentiment too. I added a trio of Berry Burst glittery enamel dots to finish - love these!

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. 

I really like this card and prefer it to my first GDP attempt. Funny how sometimes an inspiration photo can make all the difference to your creative direction. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Oh So Eclectic Clear-Mount Bundle	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Glitter Enamel Dots
Tangerine Tango A4 Cardstock	Tangerine Tango Classic Stampin' Pad	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock
Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad

This is my second post of the the day; if you missed my earlier post that tells you all about the new Stampin' Up! Autumn-Winter Seasonal Catalogue that launches today, click here. Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a colour combination for you:

These colours are not quite autumnal and to be honest I'm still firmly in summer mode as far as the weather is concerned, but I decided they would make a nice wreath. Here's my card:

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

Swirly Scribbles Wreath - I used the largest 'scribble' in Sahara Sand for my wreath and backed it with some linen thread to break up the coral panel behind. I just love these thinlits - they are so versatile!

Swirly Bird Flowers - I stamped the three different flower designs in the other two challenge colours and used them to decorate the edge of my rustic wreath. I added some in-colour DSP in Peek-a-boo Peach to my card base too, as it really compliments the flowers.

A Thoughtful Banner -  I balanced my wreath with a sentiment from Thoughtful Banners, punched out with the Duet Banner Punch. I actually punched two of the banners so that I could pop up the central section for a little added dimension. A peach ribbon bow finishes my card.

I found this quite a challenging colour combination, as I'm not a big lover to orange on my cards, yet I really like how this one turned out. Ironic that the neutral was the colour I used the least of - go figure!

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. 

Do visit the other Design Team members to see what they did with this week's colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day; I'm having a little break at the seaside but will be back with a post for the new challenge over at The Paper Players on Sunday, if not before (it all depends on my wifi!) Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Swirly Bird Photopolymer Bundle	Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Bundle	Peekaboo Peach A4 Cardstock	2016-2018 In Color Designer Series Paper Stack	Peekaboo Peach 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon
Peekaboo Peach Classic Stampin' Pad	Calypso Coral A4 Cardstock	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad	Sahara Sand A4 Cardstock	Linen Thread
Whisper White A4 Cardstock

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have the first of this month's technique classes featuring the 'Touches of Texture' stamp set and I'm sharing one of the cards that we will be making, that is based on this week's Paper Craft Crew Challenge sketch:

Here is my card:

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

Touches of Texture - Touches of Texture is one of a number of stamp sets in the annual catalogue that are all about artistic expression. The stamp set features three outline florals, a bee, a dragonfly and then a number of textured stamps that can be used in lots of creative ways. It's a great stamp set for a beginner, as there are no real rights or wrongs; no need to align the stamps precisely and you can achieve a different look each time. For this card I used the large flower head and infilled it with Cajun Craze, having added a little Early Espresso to the flower centre with a sponge dauber before stamping. I used the fine splatter behind the flower on my punched circle in Delightful Dijon, the more dense splatter in Emerald Envy on my card base for some tone-on-tone texture and lastly the dragonfly, which I fussy cut and added a little clear Wink of Stella to its wings. 

A Touch of Morocco - The ladies that attended my Moroccan Nights class last month really enjoyed using the papers and colours of the product suite and rediscovering the use of washi tape in their cardmaking, so I've continued the theme this month with similar colours and using some of the Moroccan Designer Series Paper behind my flower and some of the co-ordinating washi tape for the vertical stripe and to decorate the inside of my card and the envelope. 

Thoughtful Banners - I make more thank you cards than any other and today's card features the sweet thank you from the Thoughtful Banners stamp set, set inside a stamped banner and punched out with the co-ordinating Duet Banner punch. Another of the great bundled pairs to be found in the annual catalogue, with a saving of 10% if you buy both items together - yay!

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. 

I'm off to the cinema with the James Juniors this afternoon to watch the BFG; enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Touches Of Texture Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Moroccan Designer Series Paper	Moroccan A4 Cardstock	Moroccan Designer Washi Tape	Layering Circle Framelits Dies
Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Bundle	Delightful Dijion Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Emerald Envy Classic Stampin' Pad
Emerald Envy 3/8" (1 Cm) Ruched Ribbon	Blender Pens	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my dear friend LeAnne to host our challenge this week and she has a great colour combination for you to play along with:

I thought these colours were calling out for a patriotic red, white and blue card. I toyed with creating something in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II who is celebrating her official 90th birthday this weekend, but in the end decided to go with something more appropriate for American Independence day as 4th July is not that far away. This is what I came up with:

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

Thoughtful Banners - I used the new 'Thoughtful Banners' stamp set to create my abstract stars and stripes card today. This set is all about the sentiments, with many combinations to choose from. It also has a useful stripe stamp, that can be used with or without the words and banners to create a striped pattern, as I've done here. This is a photopolymer stamp set too which makes it easy to line up without the need for a stamp-a-ma-jig - bonus! 

Duet Banner Punch - I could have used so many of the stamps in this set on my card today, however when I thought about independence and the armed forces both here in the UK and abroad, the one word that summed up how I felt was 'blessed' - blessed that so many men and women are prepared to serve our countries and protect the rights and freedoms we so often take for granted, so this was the word I chose to feature on the banner of my card. A banner that was easily created with the co-ordinating Duet Banner Punch. Buy this with the Thoughtful Banners stamp set as a bundle and save 10%; don't mind if I do!

Shine Like A Star - I backed my sentiment banner with a layered star, cut from silver foil with the Star Framelits and centred with a smaller one in Whisper White. 

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. 

I hope this card is a fitting tribute to those who give of themselves in order to protect the freedoms of us all, for whom we should all feel truly blessed.

I'm linking up with the ladies over at SUO Challenges today where their current challenge is Summer Celebrations.

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our colour palette this week. We have basketball this morning then an afternoon of music practice for Rebecca who is singing in a concert on Monday evening, along with more practice of her lines in readiness for her stage performance as Dorothy in her school production of the Wizard of Oz in just a few short weeks time. 

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Thoughtful Banners Photopolymer Bundle	Stars Framelits Dies	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Dapper Denim A4 Cardstock
Dapper Denim Classic Stampin' Pad	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Silver Foil Sheets