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

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I wanted to play with a new stamp set that I hadn't yet broken the seal on - Coneflower Celebrations. The challenge was really to keep things clean and simple - especially as I'm playing along over at Inkspirational too (with the optional twist of flowers)! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Coneflower Celebrations - Coneflower Celebrations features some larger-than-life coneflower blooms, so in order to maintain a clean and simple feel, I dispensed with a stem on this occasion and simply stamped my flowerhead (I used Early Espresso as my neutral as I thought it was softer and toned in better than black) and coloured my bloom with Flirty Flamingo Blends markers, adding some Lost Lagoon leaves. 

Then There were Three - I only used two of the challenge colours for my bloom; the third colour, Pool Party, I added with a blending brush to the corner of my card, having first masked off an outer 'frame'. This allowed me to ground my flower, rather than it look like it was just floating. I added a trio of embellishments - Flirty Flamingo enamel dots - for a little sparkle - perfect for the challenge over at The Flower Challenge too:

Even on a clean and simple card a few well chosen embellishments can be enough to elevate a card from something plain to something special. 

Birthday Greetings - In addition to the beautiful floral stamps and dies, the Coneflower Celebrations bundle also contains some great sentiments. I used a simple 'Celebrating you!' on the front of my card - finishing with this one on the inside:

Yes, I needed a belated birthday card for a dear blogging friend whose birthday is today. This is the second of my friends whose birthday I've not remembered in a timely manner this month - I  am clearly distracted! This sentiment is lovely for sending belated birthday wishes though - I hope I'll be forgiven and it will raise a smile when my card finally arrives at its destination! I do love this new Coneflower Celebrations stamp set - so you can look forward to seeing lots more fabulous blooms where this one came from!

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:

CONEFLOWER CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	POOL PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	LOST LAGOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

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

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

You'll notice a theme to my cards this week - they all feature turtles! Take a look at today's card:

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

I elongated that oval and featured another of the turtles fussy cut from the Turtle-y Cute designer series paper, this time the gardener turtle, and paired her with a die cut sentiment from Sweet Blooms and a co-ordinating strip of designer paper from a retired pack that co-ordinated:

I stamped the remainder of my sentiment on the inside of my card, along with a little DSP accent and flower, to complete my card:

Simple! I'm also linking today's card up over at CAS On Friday where the current theme is 'animal', so my turtle definitely fits the bill.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TURTLE-Y CUTE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

SWEET BLOOMS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

I've been away on vacation so it's been a little quieter than usual around here, but I'm back now so normal (ish) service is about to resume! It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I'm hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

I chose a trio of summery colours for this challenge however you can use them however you like! For my card today I went floral and am playing along over at Festive Friday where their theme is National Friendship Day (I chose stencils, friend sentiment and florals from the picklist) with a clean and simple floral friendship card - take a look:

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

I CASED an earlier card of mine for the layout on this one and added in that bold 'friend' die from the (retired) Friends For Life set to my sentiment. The main difference on today's card is the way I coloured my florals: I stencilled the yellow petal elements and green leaves and stem, but I added Strawberry Slush highlights and to the centre petals using my Stampin' Blends markers. Do you ever mix mediums in this way? It's a great way to pick up the centres without blending them separately and then fussy cutting and gluing in place and works particularly well where the background colour is lighter than the colour you want to use in the centre:

It does give them a slightly coral hue, but by adding a Strawberry Slush diecut sentiment and co-ordinating flat pearls, it re-emphasises the pink tones. I love the finished effect!

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! 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 this week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

THANKFUL GARDEN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£62.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	STRAWBERRY SLUSH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
STRAWBERRY SLUSH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I am hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge featuring a sentiment and a single stem of some kind: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I chose a single stem from the 'Natural Botanicals' stamp set - perfect for the 'botanical' challenge over at CAS on Friday too - and set to work to create a simple one layer card:

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

I stamped my leaf and sentiment (from 'Sweet Blooms') in Tuxedo Black onto thick white cardstock and added some colour to the leaf sections using three of the 2025-27 In Color Stampin' Write markers:

Stampin' Write markers are great for one layer cards as they don't bleed through and since the sections are so small, it's easy to get an even colour without the need for a Blend. A trio of Cloud Cover flat pearls complete my card. Unorthodox colours for a leaf, for sure, but that's the creator's prerogative, right?

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:

NATURAL BOTANICALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£21.00)

SWEET BLOOMS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£17.00)

2025–2027 IN COLOR™ FLAT PEARLS (£8.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)

It's time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches! I'm a little late with my card as we went live yesterday (sometimes life just gets in the way!) but I'm here now. Shannon is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

The blue in this trio of colours made me think of water (perfect for the challenge over at Addicted to CAS too!) and whilst given the time of year, you might have thought I would go for beachy waves, I decided inside to use an old favourite whilst it's still available on the last chance list - take a look:

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

That sweet bunny in the 'Playing In The Rain' stamp set looks great in these colours doesn't she? I simply stamped her and coloured with my Stampin' Blends, then added some extra stamped raindrops to complete the picture:

Stamps, ink, paper - done! I'm also linking today's card up over at AAA Cards where the theme is 'anything CAS goes'.

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! 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 for my final guest appearance over at Just Us Girls. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PLAYING IN THE RAIN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£10.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	FRESH FREESIA STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	BUBBLE BATH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	AZURE AFTERNOON STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Shannon is hosting this month this week's challenge is a sketch challenge:

Shannon has asked that we create a design featuring 9 rectangles, each of white should be white/plain and pattern-free. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. I don't mind saying that the idea of 9 completely blank rectangles almost threw me for six, but I eventually made 2 cards! 

Here's the first one that I made:

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

Perennial Postage - I decided to use the Perennial Postage Dies for my 9 rectangles and whilst a whole panel of DSP is usually a no-no for a CAS C&S card, since it was going to be mostly covered with my white rectangles, I grabbed a piece of (retired) Iconic Celebrations heart-patterned paper and added this to my base.

Greetings For All - I chose a co-ordinating diecut sentiment from the 'Greetings For All' pack and added a couple of punched hearts behind to pick up the colour and design of the paper:

Take Two - Having made this card, I decided to make another one, but this time choosing a piece of (retired) Sunshine & Rainbows designer series paper that featured white in its pattern, to see if this would create a more clean and simple feel:

I followed the same design and chose another sentiment in the pack and added a Pool Party heart accent:

The monochromatic colour scheme and addition of white in the pattern I think does give this second card a more CAS feel, so this is the one that I used as my challenge card this week, but I thought I'd share both and my thought process. No stamping either! I'm looking forward to see how our challenge participants tackle this challenge this week - why not have a go yourself and come and join us?

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:

PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (£31.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

I've had a busy Bank Holiday weekend and not managed to find much time for blogging but now it's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Laura is hosting this month and our second challenge is a colour challenge: 

I wasn't sure what to do with this week's colours, then I saw the challenge over at AAA Cards where they have a fun 'follow the leader' CASE challenge and I was inspired! I grabbed my new Party Alphabet Dies and set to work; this is what I came up with:

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

I retained the vertical design and went with a modern block sentiment to create a thank you card with a clean, masculine feel. I colour blocked the diecut letters with strips behind, then added a trio of thank you sentiments - a perfect card when you need something a little less feminine - and another great way to use those Party Alphabet Dies! Here's the card turned around so you can read the sentiment more easily:

I really like this design - I might have to have another play with those letter dies and the vertical element - so many creative possibilities!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£8.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	THOUGHTFUL WISHES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Laura who is hosting has asked that we create a square card with a quartered centrepiece:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I used the colours over at Color Throwdown and decided to create an Andy-Warhol inspired centrepiece, featuring a comical canine favourite - take a look:

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

Yes - it's the dog from the 'One More Year' stamp set - but not quite as you know it! For today's card, I stamped him four times onto white cardstock, coloured with Blends and fussy cut him out, minus his party hat. I backed each image with a square of retired spotty DSP in the challenge colours and mounted each onto a postage die base. I finished with a simple 'hello' sentiment from the new 'Sweet Blooms' stamp set, anchored with an enamel dot:

Super simple and a fun way to give this stamp a different look. This card is going in my stash to send to the youngest James Junior when he is living away at uni - I know this will make him smile!

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:

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	PERENNIAL POSTAGE DIES (£31.00)	SWEET BLOOMS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM LIGHT COMBO PACK (£10.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. I'm hosting this month and my final challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I used a lovely stamp called 'Grateful Blessing' that I'm pleased to say will be on carryover from the current annual catalogue, because I haven't used it anywhere near enough! Here's my card:

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

Today's card really is so simple! The bell floral stamp in the Grateful Blessing stamp is perfect if you want to do just a little colouring with your Stampin' Blends, or if colouring isn't your thing there is an infill stamp so you can simply stamp it instead. I decided to do something a little different with today's card though: I used Balmy Blue and Shy Shamrock to colour my bluebells using my Stampin' Write markers, using just the outline of the stamp:

This technique is really easy to do; it works better on red rubber stamps than photopolymer, but if you stamp your flowers using a stamp positioning tool, you can repeat it a few times and increase the depth of colour. I stamped one of the sentiments in the set alongside my bluebells in Night of Navy, then added a simple scored border to complete my card. 

The flowers are so delicate when only the outlines are coloured; do you ever use this technique with your outline stamps? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to know how you are using your Stampin' Write markers. 

I also made a second card using the same stamp set, layout and colours, but this time heat-embossing the image in white onto Night of Navy cardstock:

To colour the flowers, I first painted the flower with diluted white kraft ink to give a base for the colour to key to, then when dry I added the colour on top using watercolour pencils:

This gives quite a different look. Two techniques with one stamp set - do you have a favourite? 

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

And the second card:

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:

GRATEFUL BLESSING PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

2024–2026 IN COLOR™ STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£17.50)

SUBTLES STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£35.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£10.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and I've designed my layout with a narrow vertical border and sentiment across the wide panel. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to make a card that showcased the greenery diecut in the Mixed Florals bundle - the one that was hidden by all the flowers on Sunday's card (you can see that card here if you missed it):

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

There are three things that each have a significant role to play on today's card:

The Mixed Florals Diecut - The detail of this diecut deserves to showcased in all its glory once in a while - and today's card is it!

The Oxidised Copper Designer Paper - This paper, with its beautiful copper foil highlights, is really lovely and works best when it is allowed to take centre stage; so a border and the diecut itself allows it to stand out against the Pretty Peacock cardbase, whist still retaining a clean and simple feel.

Thinking Of You Sentiment - This sentiment comes from one of my favourite sentiment sets, 'Friends For Life'. I love the combination of typeface and the shine of the embossed copper and it's just the right size to balance the diecut:

Just the sentiment for this week's 'YOU' word challenge over at Just Us Girls this week too; I can't quite believe I've managed to join in with each of their challenges for the last three weeks - I must be on a roll!

The only other thing to mention is that I used one of the Everyday Arches Dies to diecut my sentiment label; this is the first time I've used one as a label rather than an arch, but it just goes to show how useful these are. A few copper sequins 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (7.00)	OXIDIZED COPPER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (7.50)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (12.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)
PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)