Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a theme challenge:

I was tempted to do something with lemons, as I love the bright yellow of the lemons against the blue in our inspiration photo today, however I have had a rainbow-themed idea percolating in my head for a little while so decided to try that out instead. As a result, I ended up wtih not one but two cards for you today - take a look:

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

Rainbow Pastels Coffee - I started off with this card that was inspired by the pastel rainbow colours over at Fusion (you can see them on the badge at the bottom of this post). I stamped and diecut a collection of coffee cups using the Nothing's Better Than stamp set and Love You More Than co-ordinating dies, and adhered them across the centre of my slimline card. I added a simple stamped sentiment either side, with the diecut 'coffee' added on top using adhesive foam sheet:

 I carried the sentiment and coffee cup theme through to the inside (and did the same with my second card too):

 I was going for a clean and simple card with lots of white space and could have stopped there, but decided that it would be fun to add a selection of sequins from my stash that co-ordinated with my rainbow colours around the cups for a little extra sparkly detail - it's also a nod to the round plates in the Fusion photo. Check out how pretty they shine:

Rainbow Brights Cocktails - Having completed this card, I thought it would be fun to make another card with the same idea, this time using the cocktail glass in the Nothing's More Than set. I changed up my rainbow of colours from pastels to brights (I was thinking more of a day to night vibe!) for my second card:

The cocktail glasses are larger than the coffee cups, so I went for a more uniform positioning across the centre of the card and placed my stamped sentiments to either side for better balance. I wanted to preserve my white space so didn't add as many sparkles this time; I still couldn't resist a few iridescent rhinestones to add to my cocktail party feel though!

So which are you - Team Coffee of Team Cocktails? Today it's a Bank Holiday here in the UK to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's Platinum Jubilee - 70 years on the throne, wow! I think this means I'll be doing both as the day progresses; any excuse to raise a glass, ma'am!

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

NOTHING'S BETTER THAN PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	LOVE YOU MORE THAN DIES (£28.00)	FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.50)	SAHARA SAND A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PALE PAPAYA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	ORCHID OASIS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)

Happy Friday everyone - the weekend is in sight! Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge:

I made a very special card to share with you today! You know when you get an idea and you just can't rest until you make it a reality? Yes, that was today's card! My card to welcome a new baby features the new Sweet Songbirds bundle - take a look:

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

Sweet Songbirds - Everyone loves a good punch bundle and the Sweet Songbirds bundle, comprising the stamp set of the same name and the Songbird Builder Punch, is definitrly a great addition to your crafting collection. Perfect to welcome someone to a new home or to welcome a new baby, for thank yous, news notes or any kind of celebration (even Christmas - these birds would make great robins!), the Sweet Songbirds bundle has it all. The punch will either punch the stamped image of the large bird in the set, or allow you to simply punch a bird from cardstock. This is particularly useful to easily create mirrored birds, as I've done on my card today. 

Double Slider Reveal - What might not be immediately obvious at first glance, is that today's card is a double slider card. When you pull the tab at the side of the card, the mama and papa birds slide out to reveal their baby bird in the nest:

I might be biased, but I think this is such a cute idea! 

Here's a short video clip showing you how that works:

I'm mindful that today's post doesn't show the detail of the 'how' I created my double slider; I watched a number of actually very frustrating YouTube videos, and ultimately ended up re-engineering the mechanism until it is so super easy! It really needs a video to explain it though and I didn't then have time to film one this week, but I will pick this up and share in another post with you next week since I feel like I owe it to the crafting community to demystify this type of card!! I finished my sentiment and re-stamped my baby songbird on the inside of my card to finish.

A Recipe For Success - Whilst I was all about bring my creative ideas to fruition this week, it's recipe week over at As You See It and so worth me recapping on how I incorporated the elements of the recipe in my card:

• Diecut or punch - Songbird Builder Punch and Basic Borders Dies (I used the cloud shaped as a stencil to add clouds to my background with a blending brush and some Balmy Blue ink)
• Embossing folder - Merry Melody 3D Embossing Folder (This covers my slider mechanism)
• Something beginning with 'B' - Birds and baby
• Pastel colours - Balmy Blue, So Saffron and Polished Pink
• Something shiny - A sparkly in-colour vellum flower and single rhinestone jewel to decorate mama bird (almost missed this one!)

That's everything - phew! What a sweet little pair:

This was such a fun card to make!

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEET SONGBIRDS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£32.25)	MERRY MELODY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.50)	BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
SO SAFFRON A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SO SAFFRON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)
TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a poignant 'fill in the blank' challenge:

I used this week's Global Design Project colour palette and the sketch layout over at Sunday Stamps and chose a set that might surprise you for my card this week - take a look:

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

A Mother's Love - We have already had Mother's Day here in the UK, so instead of making a Mother's Day card I decided to make a card to send to my daughter. I filled in the blank for today's challenge with 'The best thing about Mothers is ...unconditional love' and I thought this sweet image of two birds from the 'Catch You Later' stamp set, alongside the sentiment of 'I'll always be here for you' sums this up nicely. The image of the protective mother bird keeping her little one close underlines the idea that a Mother is the one person who loves you - no matter what. As a Mother of two myself, that's exactly how I feel about my offspring and this simple card is a great way to make sure that they know it. 

Stylish Circles and Banners - I used the Stylish Shapes Dies both to edge my cutaway circle - I love that these dies have the stitched detail on both sides of the cut line - and for the trio of stitched banners that house my sentiment. This dieset is an absolute must-have!

Beautiful Blends - I coloured my pair of birds in this week's GDP colours; I think these birds are supposed to be quails, but since these are rather uninteresting, neutral coloured birds to look at, I thought a brighter look with a funky top feather was much more fun! 

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

Enjoy your day; I've a super busy end to my week but will hopefully be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CATCH YOU LATER CLING STAMP SET (£22.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	PALE PAPAYA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	PALE PAPAYA STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
CALYPSO CORAL A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a shades of blue colour challenge chosen by the lovely LeAnne:

I have been busy preparing for my upcoming 'Waves of The Ocean' card class and this trio of blues is just perfect for waves, so I thought I'd share a variation of a card that I'll be making with my ladies next week, including a fun technique - take a look at my card:

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

Waves of Inspiration - This fabulous tidal wave is the real scene-stealer in the 'Waves of Inspiration' stamp set and can make a card all by itself (more on that later!) For this card, I used my Stamparatus to ink the whole wave in Balmy Blue, then I inked a second time, adding Pacific Point and Night of Navy to select areas of the stamp using a sponge dauber, to give me the variegated colour. The Stamparatus is most definitely your friend when using this stamp - it allows you to align the image and add layers of colour with ease. 

Foamy Waves - I decided I wanted to add some dimension and texture to my wave to give it a truly foamy feel; you can see it on the card above but I thought you would appreciate a closer look below:

In real life this texture looks so good! 

Want To Know More? - Creating the textured foam really is easier than it perhaps looks: all you need is some liquid glue, white embossing powder and a heat gun to make the magic happen. Here's a link to a short video I made some years ago where I used the same technique to create puffy clouds and snow that demonstrates it better than I can explain it:

In addition to the basic technique, to add a little extra sparkle to today's card I went back over some of the raised areas with my liquid glue and added some fine loose glitter, but you could forgo this step if glitter isn't your thing. 

In designing my classes I always try to use all of the stamps in a set, but also to introduce new ideas or ways of using stamps that my ladies perhaps haven't thought of or that I haven't seen used elsewhere in the creative blogosphere. I hope my ladies like this one!

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

Enjoy your day; we are taking it easy following a very late night in London yesterday. It was so worth it though - the ALW production of 'Cinderella' was AMAZING!  I'll be back tomorrow with another project and I have several more 'Waves of Inspiration' cards to share too, so stay tuned. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WAVES OF INSPIRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£48.50)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	MULTIPURPOSE LIQUID GLUE (£4.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SO SAFFRON STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

Happy Friday everyone - the end of the week is here! This also means I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun sketch challenge:

I paired our sketch full of horizontals with this week's Color Throwdown colours and set to work. Initially this sketch had me stumped; my 'go to' would normally be designer series paper but I just wasn't inspired (check out what some of my teamies did with DSP though - amazing!) I perused my catalogue and then happened upon a retiring die that I thought would make a pretty repeating design - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Do you recognise this die? Or actually dies, as it uses two? Both the stitched rectangle and the floral line are from the retiring Ornate Layers Dies. In addition to the fancy frames in this set, there are two pretty floral diecut elements too and this is one of them. What this card lacks in supplies - you need literally just a handful of items to recreate it - it more than makes up for in time: all of the tiny floral elements have been paper-pieced into the negative of the white rectangles and yes it took a while! It's so worth it though; I considered leaving the panels white with the negative space unfilled and also considered cutting the panels from coloured cardstock, but they just didn't look as good. Instead I cut five rectangles with the negative die inset, then diecut the floral band an additional five times each in Coastal Cabana and Soft Sea Foam and using some Press 'n' Seal and the putty end of my Take Your Pick Tool, paper-pieced the pieces into each white panel (having first adhered it to a piece of cardstock using an adhesive sheet. 

For the gold elements, instead of using gold foil I rubbed the remaining areas with gold gilded leafing; this stuff gets everywhere, but I love the bright shine and slightly textured effect that it gives - you can see it more closely below:

I finished with a sentiment from the retiring 'All Things Fabulous' which has sadly already sold out here in the UK (love this set!) So what do you think? This card took a while but was so worth it - I love it! I'm also linking today's card up over at The Flower Challenge where they want us to add a heart to our floral cards; is it me, or are those not 'hidden' gold hearts on their sides either side of the central flower? For all you Walt Disney World fans out there, think of it like a hunt for 'hidden Mickey's' - you see them, 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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

Enjoy your day; I have my usual list of Friday chores to complete today, including amongst other things trying to line-dry my washing in between the April showers (so far this week the score is 'Weather 2 - Joanne 0'!) but I'm hoping since I have a helper or two I met get done quicker and be able to squeeze in a little crafty time too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where the lovely Heather H had a speed stamping challenge for us:

Heather's theme initially had me scratching my head this week, as I have no current stamps that are wellington boots or umbrellas; then I suddenly realised 'staying dry' can be as simple as taking the outside in! That thought led to another and I was away - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Yes, another rainbow for you today! I still had the 'In The Moment' stamp set out on my desk having prepped for my class using this set earlier this week. In my class, we looked not only at how to colour with Stampin' Blends, along with pencils, Stampin' Write markers and blending tips for each medium, but also different ways in which you can use line drawn images, including ways of colouring beyond the obvious. This card is a 'bonus' for the ladies that attended my class as it looks at another way to colour an image that might not be immediately obvious: here I've focused less on the inside and more on the outside - what can be seen beyond the scene, which in this case is the stormy grey sky and a beautiful rainbow through the window itself.

I used all 10 minutes of my allotted time for this week's speed challenge, first cutting my card base, mat and white pieces and stamping the image and sentiment in Memento Black, using my Stamparatus to get a nice solid image, then I used the remainder of the time to colour my image. I went with a traditional rainbow and coloured it with my Blends, simply drawing in the arch of colour and blending between each to get a smooth-ish finish. I added some clear Wink of Stella to give my rainbow some sparkle and a few clear enamel raindrops to add to the effect:

In the interests of time, I coloured the rest of my sky in Smoky Slate and added a few grey highlights to the image of lady, but that was all. I really like the effect - the lack of colour on the main image really draws the eye to the rainbow outside and the pop of colour it adds. 

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. 

This is my second entry over at The Paper Craft Crew's rainbow colour challenge this week - traditional rainbow colours this time - and another entry for the rain/rainbow challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP335.

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 

I hope you're enjoying my rainbows in all of their various guises this week because - spoiler alert! - I have another rainbow card for you tomorrow! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

IN THE MOMENT CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£23.00)	BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BALMY BLUE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	FRESH FREESIA STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	SILVER & CLEAR EPOXY ESSENTIALS (£4.38)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where the I chose a theme of spring flowers for our challenge this week:

The Stampin' Up! catalogue is great for florals of all kinds and the current mini has a great selection of spring florals in particular. I was a little spoilt for choice! I decided to showcase some of the beautiful Flowering Fields designer series paper covered in bright tulips on my card today - take a look:

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

Flowering Fields - The handpainted designs of the Flowering Tulips designer series paper are stunning! Beautifully coloured and sized perfectly for cardmaking. I chose one with a mango-orange colour scheme and used the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge for my layout, cutting the paper into three columns. The pattern carries across the panels and the layering adds visual interest to the design. 

Tulips And More - I also used the co-ordinating 'Flowering Tulips' bundle for the remaining details. I tweaked the sketch elements slightly, using the horizontal element to showcase one of the Tulips Dies and added the sentiment to the circle - it's a perfect fit:

A Final Touch - My final addition was some of the check ribbon, that I wrapped around my diecut and tied in a bow. I sometimes feel like I have lots of ribbon that I don't use and this design really lends itself to a bow I think. The colours compliment the busy paper pattern beautifully without overwhelming. 

So what do you think? When you think 'spring flowers', what is the floral set that you reach for? Do join us over in the AYSI gallery with your spring floral creations.

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWERING FIELDS 12” X 12” (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	FLOWERING TULIPS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	EVENING EVERGREEN 3/8'' (1 CM) WINDOWPANE CHECK RIBBON (£7.00)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a recipe challenge:

We have a great recipe for you this week and I can't wait to see what you cook up with it! I paired my ingredients with this week's colour palette over at Color Throwdown (gorgeous!) and the fabulous sketch over at Hand Stamped Sentiments (and thank you to these ladies for choosing my camper van card as one of their Artist's Picks for their last challenge; if you missed it you can see that card here). I decided to go with pretty florals and break open a set I've not had a chance to use yet - take a look:

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

Flowing Flowers - I decided to create some two-tone flowers using ink and sponge daubers to decorate my card. The 'Flowing Flowers' stamp set is perfect for stamping straight onto a card base, but I decided to stamp a few flowers and leaves and fussy cut them as I wanted to create a cluster that would accent my sentiment tag. I also curved them a little with my bone folder for added dimension. I also added an extra flower to pretty up the inside of my card:

I used a panel embossed with the painted texture embossing folder on the front of my card; I really like the look behind those blousy flowers:

Pastels - check. Embossing - check.

A Tailor Made Tag - The Tailor Made Tags Dies are great as gift tags; the smaller sizes made really neat sentiment tags on cards too and that's how I used mine today. And it enabled me to tick off another two recipe items: dies - check. Ribbon/twine - check (both!). 

And A Modern Day Sentiment - My tag also features the final item of this week's recipe - my sentiment. Whilst it doesn't overtly say 'thinking of you', I just love this sentiment from the 'Flowing Flowers' stamp set and is perfect to let someone know you are thinking of them in the old fashioned way, with something more meaningful than a text. I mean 'snail mail' is still a thing, right?! Thinking of you - check. Recipe complete! 

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

I love that one of my customers who I see fairly regularly still send me cards and such like in the post. I sometimes share them in my Facebook Group but she is not a Facebook user so doesn't get to see the lovely comments that get left. Here's a picture of one that I received this week, using the Floral Squares Dies that we both love:

Isn't that wonderful? It is always nice to receive something in the post; thank you Gill for this lovely card and to everyone else - if you're reading this and wondering when was the last time you sent a card instead of a text, make that your challenge the next time you pick up your phone. Any excuse for more crafting has to be good!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLOWING FLOWERS CLING STAMP SET (£24.00)	PAINTED TEXTURE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	TAILOR MADE TAGS DIES (£20.00)	FRESH FREESIA 3/8" (1 CM) OPEN WEAVE RIBBON (£6.50)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SOFT SUCCULENT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	2021–2023 IN COLOR JEWELS (£6.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a fun 'fill in the blank' challenge:

A favourite technique - how fun! I decided to choose inlaid diecut technique as one of my favourite techniques to share with you today and decided to have another crack at the inspiration photo over at The Card Concept, this time with a clean and layered card (you can see my earlier clean and simple entry here in case you missed it). I was totally inspired by the greenery and pink flowers of that beautiful heart and the texture of the white brick wall behind and where better to turn to demonstrate the inlaid diecut technique than my trusty Floral Heart Dies - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Floral Hearts Dies and Inlaid Diecuts - I cut out the main heart from a piece of green ink-washed watercolour paper and added some additional pieces of foliage as the basis for my heart wreath, then used the separate flower dies to cut out the flowers in both Melon Mambo and Flirty Flamingo. Before brushing out the pieces from the petals of the flower outlines, I carefully used some Press 'n' Seal to lift the pieces out in the same position. I then adhered the outline pieces to some scrap cardstock, and carefully inlaid the alternative colourway into the outline pieces. This gives a selection of two-tone flowers with all pieces intact. I love to use just the outlines of these flowers, but think they look really pretty with their infills too. This technique is quite fiddly with small pieces, however is really easy when larger diecuts are involved, such as the new Tropical Layers Dies, for example.

Textured Brick - I used the Bricks and Mortar 3D embossing folder to add texture to the base of my card; this is a great way to add detail and interest to plain white cardbase.

My Heart Is Tied To Yours - Finally, in addition to some pearls and a simple double bow, I added a banner with my favourite sentiment from the 'Eden's Garden' stamp set:

Is that not just the nicest greeting someone can see when they open a card? I think so. My card is already in the mail to someone who has been having a tough time lately and I'm hoping when she reads this it will truly warm her heart and let her know I'm thinking of her.

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a Fill in the Blank challenge, complete the sentence in the Challenge Banner with the phrase that is true for you and create your project using the words you used. Tell us what you said in your blog or on your site.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FLORAL HEART DIES (£35.00)	EDEN'S GARDEN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As You See It where it's time for a colour challenge from the lovely Heather C:

I am using the current Fusion sketch again today for my layout (in the correct orientation this time ;-)) and another first-time outing for a new stamp set - take a look:

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

Catch You Later - Today's card features the cat and goldfish combination from the 'Catch You Later' stamp set, found on page 63 of the mini catalogue. An unlikely pair of friends perhaps, but the sentiment suggests they share a definite affection between them! I like this set because it contains lots of small images that are easy to colour. 

Circles, Circles - I added my stamped image to a pair of layered circles in each of the challenge greens and also used a strip of Soft Succulent in-colour designer paper with a circle motif across my card to tie the whole thing together. 

A Pop Of Extra Colour - I actually chose to use this image for today's challenge because I thought the goldfish would be the perfect animal to showcase Calypso Coral. When my card was almost complete, I decided I wanted to add a little more coral to accentuate it; luckily I found a few retired enamel hearts in my stash that were just the job!

The funniest thing about today's card? I didn't even register that our challenge badge also featured a cat until after I had loaded up my card into my blog post! Heather must have been sending me inspirational vibes in more ways than one!

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 project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CATCH YOU LATER CLING STAMP SET (£22.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	2021–2023 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	SOFT SUCCULENT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)