It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Rachel is hosting the next 2 challenges and our second challenge this month is a colour challenge: 

These colours are quite spring-like, which is perfectly fitting for Rachel's part of the world. For my card today I grabbed a set that I recently picked up in a stamp sale, along with the layout over at Sunday Stamps, and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

This sweet little gnome comes from a My Favourite Things stamp set called 'Sunflower Gnomes'. There are two other stamps in the set featuring sunflowers, but in this one the gnome is holding a chrysanthemum I think. I coloured my gnome with my Highland Heather Blends and used the Bubble Bath and Peaceful Pine for my flower. I think there are dies to cut out these gnomes but I don't have them so I got fussy cutting! For the circle element of the sketch, I used a stencil and my blending brushes to add both Highland Heather and Bubble Bath ink in a blended circle as a background of sorts to ground my gnome and I flicked it with water before adding my gnome and sentiment to add a speckled effect for interest behind:

A simple banner sentiment finished my card. I sometimes struggle to create cards that are truly 'clean and simple' that are something more that just an image and sentiment, so I really like the blended circle on this one as a way to add interest. Great sketch inspiration from the team at Sunday Stamps as always!

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:

BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	BUBBLE BATH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)
PEACEFUL PINE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Amanda has asked that we feature four staggered elements, one of which should feature a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I knew exactly what I was going to do when I saw the sketch - those 4 elements immediately reminded me of speech bubbles so I grabbed some scraps of card stock (perfect for the current challenge over at Inspire.Create) and my retired Word bubble framelits and 'Just Sayin'' stamp set and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I diecut a trio of blank speech bubbles and a third which I first stamped with my sentiment in Night of Navy, to which I added a pink enamel heart:

I added a colour-coordinated border and realised in hindsight I could have cut the three speech bubbles directly out of my white layer and allowed the colour beneath to show through the negative space - next time! This card will make a cute card for the James Junior once he is back at uni. Not long to go now - it feels like his summer at home has lasted forever!

So how will you interpret this week's sketch? Join us in the gallery with your interpretations, we would love to see them.

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:

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Amanda is hosting the next two challenges and her first one is a colour challenge: 

I wasn't sure about Amanda's chosen colours when I first saw them, but I had recently purchased the 'Highland Cows' set by Lawn Fawn and decided Pecan Pie would be great for a farmyard friend, so that was my starting point. Take a look at where I ended up:

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

I cut and coloured one of the highland cows in Pecan Pie, using a neutral ivory Blend for his hair and decided to give him a striped party hat to incorporate the other two colours. Once I'd done this, I felt my base looked a little too plain, so I grabbed an old dot patterned stencil and added some of each colour, blended into a rough circle to go behind my cow:

 Everything was going swimmingly, until I realised I had a couple of black smudges on my white card base. I trimmed down my base, but had to take off more than was ideal to just sit it on another plain card base. I decided to add in another layer with a wider border top and bottom to balance the proportions and actually created a split layer from the same colours I used for the hat and dots. 

Since I'd used a fun, punny sentiment on the front of my card, I thought I would continue it to the inside of my card and added another partying highland cow for good measure:

Whilst my smudging resulted in me needing another layer that I would not ordinarily have included on a CAS card, I love the finished effect and the additional pop of colour. Great choice Amanda!

I'm also linking my card up over at Time Out Challenges where my 'choose 2' are CAS and birthday.

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.

It has finally cooled a little here in the UK, so I am looking forward to spending some extra time in my craft room today whilst the furniture upholsterer is downstairs re-upholstering my dining room chairs! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	BERRY BURST A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)	BERRY BURST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)
MISTY MOONLIGHT STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	PECAN PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	BRONZE & IVORY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£16.00)	BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches Suzy is hosting this month and our first challenge is a sketch challenge consisting of a panel with a slightly overlapping sentiment: 

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

For my card today I couldn't wait to use the new colour combo over at Color Hues along with some other new products for a clean and simple masculine birthday card - take a look:

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

I recently won a Uniko gift voucher in the challenge over at Time Out and I used it towards some new stencils and I thought I'd give one of them a try on my card today. I used the MOD Background Builder Stencil, masking off the cross section to give me a broadly rectangular shape, and stencilled it onto my card using one of my favourite teals, (retired) Bermuda Bay. I then added a stamped and diecut sentiment using my Big Day Birthday Dies from Kristina Werner and Concord & 9th, popping the diecut piece up on dimensionals:

A sprinkle of shimmery Night of Navy enamel dots to accent the stencilled pattern and the sentiment complete my clean and simple masculine birthday card. Super simple, but effective - just the way I like a CAS card to be! 

Enjoy your day; I've already done my session at the gym today and I have some desk-based bits and pieces to deal with today and will hopefully manage to squeeze in a little crafty time too - it's still to hot here for a lot else! All being well I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

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: 

There are lots of ways you can use these colours, although I did go with the rather predictable floral option! I'm also playing along over at CAS On Friday where they have a 'dies and stamped words only' challenge. For my card today I chose an old favourite - the Dainty Delight bundle:

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

I love the pretty arc of dainty flowers that the dies in this set creates and the subtle embossed detail on the leaves and flower centres add a subtle detail that is perfect for a clean and simple card. Since I also had the bundled stamp set of the same name out on the desk, I added a thank you greeting to complete my card:

Super simple today - doing my best to keep things CAS! What will you create with this week's colours?

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; I have a day of at home today catching up on my to-do list. I'll be back later in the week with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BASIC BLACK HYBRID STAMPIN' PAD (£11.25)

PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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, with a layered cluster of images in the opposing corner to the sentiment: 

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

For my card today I took my inspiration from the photo over at Inkspirational and raided my scraps box  for the bits and pieces I needed to make my card. Take a look:

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

I knew I wanted the drinks beaker from Splash & Relax as my focal point, but wanted to incorporate the lemons and florals too. Some snippets of Best Dressed and Tea Boutique DSP, along with a banner in yellow and a stamped lemon slice (ret. Cute Fruit) gave me my other elements, which I balanced with a trio of enamel dots and a sentiment from the retired Sweet Citrus stamp set:

It's fun to layer lots of small pieces together in this way and whilst there is more than I would usually include on a CAS card, all of the detail is concentrated in one area leaving lots of open white space to keep the clean and simple feel. It's also a great way to use up scraps and bits and pieces left over from other projects. Please excuse today's photos; I was struggling with the super bright sunshine when I took them and there are a few light spots I didn't see on first glance and I didn't have time to retake them.

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 am actually driving to Oxford today to have lunch with my CAS Colours & Sketches teamie Rachel who is currently visiting the UK on vacation, so that will be fun! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPLASH & RELAX BUNDLE (£42.25)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)

PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Suzy is hosting this challenge and we have a colour challenge for you: 

These colours made me think Autumn/Winter, and I am so not ready to go there yet! But then I saw those beautiful florals over at Just Us Girls, with the striking dark purple bloom to the right of the centre of the mood board, and I decided to settle for simple florals and revisiting a fun technique - take a look:

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

I thought the tiny floral stems from the Forever Florals bundle, along with a lovely swirly sentiment, would make a sweet clean and simple card and the flower heads themselves lend themselves nicely to the rock and roll technique: I inked my flower head stamp in Gorgeous Grape, then prior to stamping rolled the edges into my Blackberry Bliss ink pad. The result? Some pretty two-tone blossoms that really stand out against the white background:

I added a narrow strip of torn vellum to ground my stems and give my sentiment somewhere to 'sit' then added a simple twine bow to finish. I'm a lover of all things purple. so I particularly like the finished result on this 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! 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; I am still ploughing through a mountain of post holiday washing and ironing, but it comes with the territory so I'm not complaining! and I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FOREVER FLORALS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

BLACKBERRY BLISS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£10.25)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£11.25)

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

She has asked that we use a simple tag shape with an overlaid sentiment on a square card base. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. 

For my card today I'm also playing along over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is 'critter' and I'm featuring a pair of them on today's card:

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

 I added this cute little bug from the Cute As A Bug designer series paper to my tag, grounding her with a little shading and added a sweet bee delivering a flower to her directly to my cardbase:

A simple sentiment from 'Meant To Bee' completes my card - cute as can bee, 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. 

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'!

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. The lovely Rachel is hosting this month and this week we have a colour challenge: 

For my card today I thought I'd hone in on the grey and use it to colour another collection of cute kitties from the Cutest Crew stamp set - take a loo:

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

This card really is super simple: I stamped and diecut the kitties, coloured them in Grey Granite and added Night of Navy butterflies with some highlighting in Balmy Blue:

A simple sentiment and a Balmy Blue enamel dot 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! 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:

CUTEST CREW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£42.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)

BALMY BLUE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Our first challenge of the month is a sketch challenge: 

We have a focal rectangle with a sentiment beneath and a diagonal line behind. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

I did turn the layout through 90 degrees for my card today, as I wanted to use the bird trio from 'the Online Exclusives Cutest Crew' stamp set (I'm also linking up with the 'animals' challenge over at CAS on Friday) as I wanted the diagonal behind to be little footprints and it worked better this way around. It did give me a sideways sentiment, but I think it's OK since the card is uber CAS and it's easy to read without too much bodily contortion! 

I used 3 of the new 2026-28 In Color Blends to colour my tweet trio: Golden Glow, Crisp Cantaloupe and a little Peaceful Pine for the grass:

 My favourite part of this card is definitely the row if tiny birdie footprints - sometimes it's the little things, 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. 

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:

CUTEST CREW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£42.25)

NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (£32.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

PEACEFUL PINE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)

CRISP CANTALOUPE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)

GOLDEN GLOW STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£11.25)