Happy New Year everyone! Did you miss me? I've enjoyed an extended blog break over the Christmas and new year period, hosting guests and enjoying time relaxing with friends and family, which has been lovely. I'm back to it now though - normal blog services have officially resumed! As it's Tuesday, it's time for our first challenge of 2026 over at CAS Colours & Sketches. The lovely Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge:
I was so tempted to use these rich colours for a Christmas card, but I resisted and instead decided to pair them with some new product that is all about spring - because on mini catalogue launch day, you really want to see some new product, right?
Here's today's super clean and simple card featuring a new stamp that you can find in the January-April mini catalogue:
Here's the low-down on today's card:
My card features a sentiment and some florals from the new 'Sunshine & Tulips' stamp set, but I'll confess now - I bought this bundle for the fab coverplate die that goes with it, which I'll be back to share with you soon, so I wouldn't advise you to purchase one without the other! Anyhow, this sweet row of tulips pairs perfectly with one of the sentiments in the set for a pick-me-up card for anyone feeling a little down with the January blues - we are already past the shortest day, so things are looking up and today's card is a reminder of that.
Whilst this card looks deceptively simple - just a row of tulips and a sentiment, right? - I would warn you it's quite tricky to get a good result. How do I know? The card you see below was my fifth attempt! Why? Well, that row of tulips is a single stamp and as it's photopolymer, it's tricky to ink evenly using Stampin' Write markers. The only way to get a clean image is to use a stamping platform and carefully mask off both the tulip heads and leaves/stems in turn using removable low-tack tape (trickier than it sounds given their relative positioning). Definitely worth it though as the tulips do look lovely in two colours:
As an added bonus, once you have the stamp mounted and you've created the masks, it's easy to add a two-tone row of tulips to your envelope too for a little CAS co-ordination.
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.
Who would you send this sweet pick-me-up to? Do let me know in the comments - I'd love you to share your thoughts.
As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.
Enjoy your day and I'll be back later with all of today's new catalogue launch news and if I get all of my other jobs done another project tomorrow too. Until then, happy stampin'!
Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:
