It's Tuesday and April already in Australia, so time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I'm hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

This is quite a rich colour palette for the time of year, but I wanted to celebrate two of Stampin' Up!'s departing In-Colours, Moody Mauve and Pebbled Path, before they retire at the end of the month. I thought these colours would be great for some earthy coloured mushrooms, so I grabbed my 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set and my aquapainter and decided on a spot of clean and simple watercolouring - take a look:

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

I diecut a rectangle of watercolour paper using my Nested Essentials Dies and stamped a single toadstool onto it. I inked the stamp using my sponge daubers, using Basic Beige for the stem and highlighting with pebble Patch, which I also used for the gills. The cap was inked in Moddy Mauve and Blackberry Bliss. Once I'd stamped the mushroom, I used my aquapianter to paint a watercoloured background behind it:

I added a couple of tabs of In-Colour ribbons as a little extra highlight to complete my focal point and added it to a Basic Beige card base. I didn't add a sentiment to the front of my card, as I thought it would make a nice simple notecard that could be used for any occasion. Having made this card, I actually made a second one, this time on a Moody Mauve card base. This one was slightly easier: a watercoloured base and two mushrooms stamped onto basic white cardstock, fussy cut and added to my watercoloured panel:

Two mushrooms allowed for a little extra colour contrast. I also added a sentiment from the 'Terrific Toadstools' stamp set to complete my card:

Which of these cards do you prefer? Do leave me a comment and let me know - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Here is the visual summary 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. 

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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TERRIFIC TOADSTOOLS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (18.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	WATER PAINTERS (13.00)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (8.50)	BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MOODY MAUVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
PEBBLED PATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC BEIGE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MOODY MAUVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)

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 as it's the fifth Sunday of the month, she has a fun tic-tac-toe challenge for us to work with:

I went across the top row with flowers(cake and sentiment decoration)/pink (cake and ribbon)/ribbon (behind the circle) and created a special birthday card - take a look:

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

A Deja Vu Moment - If you're looking at today's card and thinking there's something familiar about it - you'd be right! This is the other card that I mentioned in last Sunday's post that also uses Ann's sketch - although this one uses it in a different way. I still used the 'Celebrate' diecut element for the horizontal, but used the circle to extend my sentiment using a greeting from the Birthday Celebration bundle and instead of a shaker, I used the centre of my frame to house one of the panels of the Wildflower Celebration paper. In addition to whole patterned sheets and diecuts, there is also a sheet made up of pre-printed panels in varying sizes that feature birthday imagery too and the tiered fancy pink birthday cake was just what I needed for this special card.

Retired Favourites - I did use a few retired favourites on today's card: the white diecut frame was made using a couple of Stitched rectangle dies, the frame itself is Seaside Spray cardstock and I backed my 'Celebrate' diecut with vellum. I also used some retired glitter gold gems. All of these could be substituted with alternatives from your stash.

Age Is Just A Number - I finished my card with a diecut number '80', which I cut using the Birthday Celebration number dies. I created a blue drop shadow to make the standout and added them to the centre of my cake:

Here's the thing though - I am of the view that as we get older, milestone birthdays should be recognised and celebrated and as such, numbers on a card should make a return. I was discussing this with my mother-in-law over lunch last week, who recently turned 80 and has many friends of a similar age, but she felt strongly to the contrary - that as we age we don't wish to be reminded of the fact and it was a source of some dismay amongst her friendship group, so much so that they keep an informal of tally of number cards between them for precisely the opposite reason. So what do you think - are numbers on cards a 'yay or a 'nay'? Do leave me a comment below with 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 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; today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK and whilst I won't see my own Mum in person today, I am looking forward to being spoiled by the youngest of the James Juniors, with a roast lamb lunch and something special for pudding too. Happy Mother's Day to anyone else reading this who is celebrating today; I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (39.50)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that was inspired by one of the beautiful images in the current Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo:

I love so many of the photos in this inspiration picture, but today's card was totally inspired by that blueish foliage and those petal pink roses of the central photo on the top row - take a look:

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

Layers of Beauty - I adore the Layers of Beauty bundle, not least because it has a fantastic set of layering stencils with it too. Just three ink allow for so much detail and dimension - look at this close up to see what I mean:

The pink-peach tones of these roses are gorgeous, aren't they? I'm also linking up with the ladies over at Just Us Girls this week as it's stencil week; I've used these stencils for this challenge previously, but their versatility means that my card is completely different to my previous efforts - yay!

Diecut Fancy Fold - I have made such a wide variety of cards using this bundle (just search Layers of Beauty on my blog to see what I mean!) and each time I reach for it, I challenge myself to create something different. Today I thought I'd create a fancy fold using the large diecut florals. I stamped, stencilled and diecut two of the main images, then aligned them so that they crossed my card front and met in the middle, then scored them vertically and glued the outer edges to the back of my card. To open the card, the diecuts are opened left and right, to reveal the inner cardfront onto which I stamped my greeting:

 This card front can then be opened upwards to reveal the inside of the card:

I'm not sure if this kind of design has a special name - I'm just calling it 'diecut fancy fold' but if anyone believes it to have a specific name, do let me know!

Finishing Touches - I stamped and stencilled both the inside panel and the envelope at the same time as I made my card; if you stencil each layer as you go along, it doesn't take much longer to add these finishing touches. 

I love this card; I considered adding a butterfly - that's the only thing missing from the inspo photo - but I only have the Paper Butterfly Accents as current supplies and they didn't look right, and whilst I undoubtedly have something more appropriate on the retired boxes, they were proving elusive to say the least! I still love this card even without it, so I hope the HSS team will forgive this oversight ;-)

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:

LAYERS OF BEAUTY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (54.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	LOW-PROFILE DOTS (7.00)

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

I still had my Wildflower Birthday designer series papers out on my desk after making yesterday's card and I actually made a couple of cards using Ann's sketch. Both were quite different and I'll share the first one I made another time, but for today I wanted to share my favourite - take a look:

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

Everyday Arches Shaker - I decided to play with the layers of Ann's card, and create a central shaker element using the Everyday Arches Dies. I used a simple flat shaker, by filling an acetate bag with gold and teal covered sequins from my stash, along with a few gold birthday candles, and simply taped this to the reverse of my arch opening. This is a fun way to make a quick shaker and means you can keep any dimension for the other elements of your card.

Wildflower Birthday - The main focal point of my card is one of the delicious-looking over-the-top birthday cake diecuts from the Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack. I just love these for a special birthday card! I used another of the paper designs for the frame to surround my shaker, widening the frame so that lots of the pattern is on show.

Wanted to Say - Today's card is a no-stamping card (other than the sentiment on the inside of my card). This wasn't by design - my first card that I made included a stamped sentiment - but as I put my card together, I liked the cleaner layers achieved by using bold diecuts and instead added a layered 'Celebrate' from the Wanted To Say Dies instead - this one pairs with the Birthday Celebration bundle perfectly:

This card is a non-standard size (it actually measures 15cm x 18.5cm) so will need a custom envelope. I think this is a good size to accommodate some of the larger diecut elements in the designer paper, but you could scale down and create something more compact if you prefer.

I'm linking today's card up with the ladies over at The Alphabet Challenge blog where they are at 'Y is for Yummy' - that birthday cake certainly does look delicious to me!

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; no specific plans here today, perhaps some time pottering in the garden if the weather holds. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where we have a sketch challenge designed by Deborah:

This is a great sketch with so many creative possibilities! I decided to use up some of the diecuts from my Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack for my card today - take a look:

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

Wildflower Birthday - The Wildflower Birthday Specialty Designer Series Paper is so beautiful. In addition to the beautiful foiled patterns, there are two whole sheets of diecuts that are useful for so many cards. I used a trio of flower clusters for my card and used the colours to tie in the other elements.  

Perennial Postage - I added each of my floral clusters to a diecut square cut with the Perennial Postage Dies, to which I'd added a hint of coordinating ink with a blending brush to lift it from the base. You can see that hint of colour more closely below:

Party Dots - I finished my card with a scattering of coordinating party dots and a sentiment from the 'Friends For Life' stamp set and left the inside blank as I want to use this card to write a longer message.

This card came together pretty quickly once I'd decided on which diecuts to use. I spent longer switching out pieces and trying to decide, than I did making it - with so much to choose from in the Wildflower birthday pack, I was spoiled for choice, 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (31.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	PARTY DOTS (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Nancy has asked that we create a mini slimline card with any shape as the focal point:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I chose a sea turtle from the stamp set of the same name as the focal point for my mini slimline card - take a look:

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

I stamped my sea water bubbles in Azure Afternoon, overstamped with a couple of shoals of Calypso Coral fish and added a turtle that I fussy cut and popped on dimensionals:

A simple 'miss you' sentiment from the Friends For Life' stamp set completes my card. A simple stamps, ink and paper make for today - a quick and easy 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; I'm meeting a friend for a long-overdue catch up, which will be nice. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEA TURTLE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (20.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

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 it's clean and simple week! So along with minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space, I have a fun theme for us to work with too:

Use just a single stamped image on your card - aside from a sentiment too if you wish, only one stamped image. A single image makes a great focal point for a clean and simple card; I paired mine with a great sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and indulged in a spot of colouring on my card - take a look:

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

One More Year - I love the 'One More Year' stamp set for fun and quirky cards for both young people and the young-at-heart. In addition to a set of humorous mix and match sentiments, 'One More Year' features a trio of single stamped images that make great focal points too - I used the cheese and wine image, stamped onto a Nested Essentials diecut, adding some simple colour with my Stampin' Blends:

Clean and Simple - In addition to my stamped diecut, I added a couple of banner flags and a twist of gingham ribbon as per the sketch. Ordinarily I wouldn't use ribbon on a clean and simple card, but with such a simple design and that being the only embellishment, it adds detail whilst still allowing the card to have a clean design. 

Finishing Touches - I stamped and coloured the same image to decorate the inside of my card and stamped the other half of my sentiment to complete my card:

This is such a great set for clean and simple cards! What images do you like to use on your clean and simple cards? Leave me a comment below or better still, make a card and play along with us over at The Paper Players this week!

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; I don't have any special plans today; I'll be spending some time in the kitchen and generally having an easy day. I'll be back tomorrow soon another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BLACK & VERY VANILLA 3/8" (1 CM) LARGE CHECK RIBBON (7.50)

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

I don't often use pastel colours and certainly not exclusively, so this week was something of a challenge for me. I decided in honour of Jaydee not being a 'pink' person (I don't believe her - she often uses pink to great effect!!), that Bubble Bath would be my feature colour and when I saw the palette at Color Dare, I decided to pair it with Fresh Freesia, Soft Sea Foam and a hint of Pool Party for my pastel vibes - take a look at where I ended up:

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

Add Colour - To achieve tones of the same colour, I diecut all of my flowers and leaves from solid colour cardstock and for the detailed top layer, I added the same colour ink with a blending brush to give a further depth of colour. 

Add Texture - This card is choc-full of texture with all of the diecut layers! Both the background die and the florals are all from the Delightful Wishes bundle and are diecut only - no stamping required. There are so many layers that with the exception of the sentiment, I didn't use any dimensionals; just by overlaying the flowers you can create depth and texture.

Add Movement - Finally I added a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets - these little buzzy fellows don't actually move of course, but their presence gives a suggestion of movement to the card.

So what do you think - are pastels for you? Whilst they are generally not a 'go-to' for me, I really love the softness of the finished card. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone features pastels in the gallery this week!

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; I am hoping to get out in the garden today and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we've been having here in the UK this week - long may it continue! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for the oft-dreaded speed challenge:

This one was chosen by me: you have to create a card using a punch or punches, in under 10 minutes! I didn't have anything in mind when I chose this challenge, other than I wanted to use my Bee Builder Punch - but not necessarily to punch a bee! Thanks to a great sketch over at Sunday Stamps and the green and white colour combo over at Color Hues - perfect for the St Patricks Day inspired board at Festive Friday too ( I chose green, clover leaf and rainbow from the board) - the idea for my card came together pretty quickly too! Take a look at the card I created then read on for the detail:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Gather Your Supplies - The key to a speed stamping challenge is preparation - and this can be done before the stopwatch starts! I had my Bee Builder Punch and decided that the heart shape that forms the bee's wings would also be perfect for the basis of a lucky four-leaf clover. I wanted to keep things simple, so focused everything around one main green - Shaded Spruce. I grabbed that ink pad and some green cardstock, trawled through my (extensive!) designer paper collection for three papers I could use for those background layers that all featured Shaded Spruce as the primary colour (all 3 are retired) and grabbed those, grabbed a precut white card base and diecut circle - I keep a box of pre-cut white cardbases on my desk as these are the ones I use most, and a box of precut shapes for those I use the most and went on the hunt for a current stamp set with a 'lucky' sentiment - I settled on 'Country Flowers'. Here are my supplies, all ready to go:

I also had my embellishment box to hand, with any green or white ones at the front in case I wanted to add them at the end. Then I set my stopwatch - go, go, go!

Bee Builder Punch - My card is fairly straightforward: three overlapping panels of DSP, my Stylish Shapes diecut circle and the focal point: my four leaf clover, this is where my Bee Builder punch comes in! I punched 5 hearts from Shaded Spruce cardstock, overlapped four of them and cut a curved stem from the fifth one and glued them to the circle to create my lucky clover:

I added some green tinsel gems to cover the join and add some sparkle and used the 'best friend' sentiment for the front of my card, adding the 'lucky' one to the insde of my card:

I think it's fun to see what else you can use punches for, other than their main purpose. This isn't the first time I've used a punch or die to create a four leaf clover either - if you do a search on my blog, you will find many examples over the years!

The Result - So how long did my card take? An impressive 7 minutes and 51 seconds, even if I say so myself! 

The key is in the preparation - and keeping it simple, with minimal stamping. So what are your favourite ways to use your punches for a speedy card? Do leave me a comment below and better still, play along with our challenge this week!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEE BUILDER PUNCH (23.00)	COUNTRY FLOWERS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
TINSEL GEMS FOUR-PACK (7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Nancy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

What a great set of fresh and zingy colours! For my card today I'm also playing along with the 'anything CAS' challenge over at AAA Cards with the optional twist of spring/spring colours with a simple thank you card packed with spring floral details - take a look:

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

Thoughtful Moments - I decided to use the Thoughtful Moments Hybrid Embossing Folder and Dies for the sentiment on my card today as I haven't used them for ages! I inked my embossing folder with Berry Burst ink to get the word outline before embossing and diecutting, then used my Berry Burst Blends to create a dip-dyed ombre look, before adding to my card base. It's difficult to see in the photos, but the embossing adds a really nice detail to a clean and simple card.  

Pretty Petals - I decorated my sentiment with clusters of flowers, stamped using the Pretty Petals stamp set. I stamped the stems directly onto the card base, in a mix of the greens, then stamped the petals in Berry Burst and diecut them before adding with dimensionals for a little extra depth:

The Pretty Petals stamps have an almost watercoloured effect, giving them a soft, airy feel - perfect for spring. In addition to individual blooms, you can stamp and diecut larger elements too - check out the set in more detail by clicking on the link to the Online Exclusives section of the store in the product table below. What's more, both the stamps and dies are currently reduced - so you could pick up a bargain too!

Finishing Touches - A white baker's twine bow and trio of white faceted gems complete today's 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. 

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! color 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 in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PRETTY PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (8.50)	PRETTY PETALS DIES (9.60)	THOUGHTFUL MOMENTS HYBRID EMBOSSING FOLDER (ENGLISH) (36.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BERRY BURST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)