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

Do you ever send a card 'just because'? 'Hello' cards are perfect for an anytime greeting and useful for a quick note or simply to keep in touch with a friend. For my card this week I started with the sketch layout over at TGIF Challenges and grabbed my Cheerful Daisies Dies as these colours seemed the perfect fit. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Cheerful Daisies - I diecut the daisy trio in Basic White then split them apart, adding some Lemon Lolly to the centre of the main flower with a vellum top layer. I added a couple of pairs of diecut leaves and fronds that I watercoloured in Lost Lagoon, before piecing them back together.

Lots of Lemon Lolly - Lemon Lolly is such a lovely, fresh shade of citrus yellow that I knew this needed to be the focus colour of today's card. I used it for my base and added a piece of striped DSP to the centre of the scalloped panel too, as well as a trio of gems - so pretty!

And A Little Lost Lagoon - With white as my neutral this featured as my second colour and I used Lost Lagoon as my accent colour, for my watercolouring, stamped sentiment and a little ribbon detail too.

The only stamping on today's card is my 'hello' sentiment so I'm linking up this week's Just Us Girls challenge too, where that's their codeword. I'm also sharing with the ladies over at SUO Challenges where their current theme is flowers. 

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; yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here - summer has finally arrived! I am hoping for a repeat today and looking forward to spending a fairly lazy day in the garden. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHEERFUL DAISIES DIES (32.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	ARTISTICALLY INKED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BRIGHT & BEAUTIFUL 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (9.98)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
ADHESIVE-BACKED SOLID GEMS (7.50)	WATER PAINTERS (13.00)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LOST LAGOON ¼" (6.4 MM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went across the middle with florals/free/sparkle to create another card using my free Sale-A-Bration Favoured Flowers designer series paper - take a look:

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

Further to this card I created last week using purple shades, I used the coral toned flowers to create another card using the same products and layout. I fussy cut a trio of flower heads, adding in a couple of buds and a few diecut leaves for added interest:

My sparkle is courtesy of my trio of Petal Pink Elegant Faceted Gems; subtle, yet they have a lovely sparkly in real life. Here's one last photo showing this card alongside it's purple 'sister' - which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts. 

The Favoured Flowers papers are just fabulous and so easy to work with - and free!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	SUNFLOWERS DIES (31.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (33.00)
ELEGANT FACETED GEMS (7.00)	ARTISTICALLY INKED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

Happy Saturday everyone! A quick card from me today as I managed to squeeze in a little extra crafting time (also known as I avoided standing in the rain on the sidelines of two very wet hockey matches today!) so I'm playing along with this week's Freshly Made Sketches layout from Amy:

I spent an evening earlier in the week fussy cutting flowers from my Favoured Flowers designer series paper that I received as one of my free Sale-A-Bration gifts and thought Amy's sketch was perfect to put some of them to good use - take a look:

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

First things first: the Favoured Flowers designer series paper is designed to coordinate with the Fragrant Flowers stamp set and die bundle on page 21 of the new mini catalogue, however I did not buy this bundle - but this didn't stop me claiming my free paper! Every time you see me use this paper, I will be co-ordinating with other stamp sets that might be similar. I hope you find this useful and a good way to show that you don't always have to have everything 'matching' to make something work.

I used one of the DSP patterns for the central panel then layered three large flowers for the circles of the sketch, having separated the leaves from the flowers so that I could tuck in a few of those too, along with a couple of diecut ones. I added a sentiment on a label and a trio of the new opaque dots in Fresh Freesia for a little extra sparkle:

The colours of this paper pack are really rich but they are great to work with, especially if you incorporate the lighter tones too. 

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:

ARTISTICALLY INKED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (33.00)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	SUNFLOWERS DIES (31.00)
OPAQUE ADHESIVE-BACKED GEMS (7.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's the first of March and a new month means a new hostess! Jeanne is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

Since it's the first of March and St David's Day I feel like I should be using daffodils on my card, but Jeanne's colour choices don't really lend themselves to my national flower! Instead my card today features some pierced blooms and uses the sketch layout over at Fusion:

I used all three colours for my duo of diecut blooms and added them to a simple layered background. A 'thanks' sentiment from 'Artistically Inked' and a trio of Fresh Freesia rhinestones complete today's card and goes across the centre middle row of the Paper Craft Crew TicTacToe board too. 

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:

PIERCED BLOOMS DIES (£34.00)	ARTISTICALLY INKED CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SMOKY SLATE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went across the middle with diecut/sentiment/metallic for my card today and decided to use my Artistic Dies to create a pretty and clean card - take a look:

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

Artistic Dies - This main diecut from the Artistic Dies is so very pretty! I decided to go white-on-white today with a pop of colour peeking through beneath:

Artistically Inked - There was an experimental element to my card today, in that I wanted to see if I could get the floral stamps in the Artistically Inked to line up with the detail of the dies. So pleased to discover that this was quite easy to do and I’m looking forward to sharing how I did this, along with some tips and tricks, with the ladies that are attending my Artistically Inked class next week as we are going to do something similar.

A Trio of Metallics - For my trio of metallics, I heat embossed my sentiment in silver, and added some silver thread and a trio of sparkly rhinestones. Just enough to add a touch of metallic for a little extra detail.

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. 

i really like today’s card; lots of the cards I’ve made to date using this suite have included lots of elements and I think this pared back look is much more in keeping with my go-to style. That makes it a great card to link up with the girls over at SUO Challenges where they have a ‘Designer’s Choice’ challenge this week.

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; the James Juniors and I have been to the beach today which was a lot of fun - I’m sure we will sleep well tonight! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ARTISTICALLY INKED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Samantha has asked that we feature a non-geometrical shape on our cards: 

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

For my card today I had to make another card using items from the 'Expressions In Ink' Suite - take a look:

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

Artistically Inked - The main feature on today's card is a gold foil leaf branch cut with my Artistic Dies and a trio of Polished Pink blooms that I've stamped and diecut and tucked in amongst the leaves.  The flowers in this set are so pretty and they are so easy to stamp - perfect for clean and simple cards.

A Distinktive Inking Tip - As beautiful as they are, there is no patterned paper from the suite on today's card. Instead, I added a 'hint of pink' both behind my floral stem and in the opposing corner beneath my sentiment. Instead of inking the stamp directly, or even stamping off, I added ink to the stamp using my blending brush; this gave perfect coverage with no harsh lines and allowed the detail of the distinktive stamp to show through, but with just a hint of colour:

I really like this effect, so soft and subtle.

Finishing Touches - A gold heat-embossed sentiment and a trio of gold gilded gems finish today's card. Just enough bling to make it special without breaking too many CAS rules!

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. 

It's still freezing cold and blowing a gail here in the UK today, although mercifully the torrential rain has stopped for the time being. Summer, oh summer - where are you??!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ARTISTICALLY INKED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)

GILDED GEMS (£6.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£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 Jaydee to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

I decided that Jaydee's sketch was the perfect opportunity to get to work with my Expressions in Ink suite. As is often the way, the first card that I make when I open a new suite for the first time ends up including a bit of everything, and today's card is no exception - take a look:

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

Expressions In Ink - The starting point for today's card was the beautiful 'Expressions In Ink' specialty designer series paper that is the cornerstone of the suite of the same name and that features on the front cover of the new annual catalogue. Full of patterns made from alcohol inked backgrounds with gold embossed detail, these papers are stunning! I chose a heavily patterned floral design with gold embossed detail and added it to the top portion of my card.

Artistically Inked - I used the 'Artistically Inked' stamp set to stamp a Magenta Madness flower and two pairs of leaves, along with a heat-embossed sentiment on the front of my card. These are distinktive stamps that also have that watercoloured or alcohol-inked effect. I die cut these elements with the co-ordinating Artistic Dies. I also added a sentiment and another stamped flower to the inside of my card:

Touches of Gold - I added lots of additional touches to my floral focal point to make this a rather special card - gold foil diecut leaves, Pale Papaya ribbon (cut in half lengthways), gold twine and gilded gems for an added touch of luxury:

I just adore this suite - I think it is my favourite of all of the new suites in the catalogue. If it's a favourite of yours too, you are going to want to come back again this week as I have made lots more cards that I will be sharing with you. So much so, I am already running out of this paper - I will be needing to order more of that 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:

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; mine is a going to be a busy one as Sundays go. There is swim squad training for both James Juniors and then Master James has a football-themed birthday party to attend in the afternoon too. I'm just hoping it stays dry - cricket was cancelled again yesterday - and for once not because it was raining, but this time because we have had so much rain so far this last week and in May as a whole that the cricket pitches were saturated. The poor boy has yet to wear his new cricket kit this year - at this rate he will have grown out of it before he gets the chance!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ARTISTICALLY INKED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	EXPRESSIONS IN INK 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)
MAGENTA MADNESS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MAGENTA MADNESS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PALE PAPAYA 3/8" (1 CM) OPEN WEAVE RIBBON (£6.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)