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

I had chosen a collection of products that would enable me to meet a number of the boxes on Jaydee's grid; by the time I'd finished my card I actually covered the whole of the grid with the exception of 'masculine'! Atlantic Hearts have a great slimline sketch this week so I combined it with this week's Color Throwdown colours and decided to make a special birthday card - take a look:

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

I have been spending time experimenting with the various combinations of pieces in the Paper Florist Dies recently so I decided I would put my time to good use and create a cascade of using the 'Best Family Ever' stamp set.  flowers in my favourite new Bubble Bath and Lemon Lolly colours, with bright green leaves, clustered around a central sentiment label, onto which I heat embossed a customised sentiment:

This stamp set is perfect to create all kinds of special sentiments; the set doesn't actually include the word 'NANNA', so I created it by combining letters from other names in the set. I also added some stencilling to the card base using a retired decorative mask and some Azure Afternoon ink, blending out from the centre and fading into the white of the base. Stencilling is a great way to add extra detail to the background, without distracting from the detail of the flowers themselves. I'm also linking today's card up over at Inkspirational where they are asking us to use stencils this week too. A couple of loops of Bubble Bath ribbon and a trio of pink pearls complete my card. This card is for the James Juniors to send to their Nanna for her birthday; it's still a few months away, but hey it can't hurt to be organised!

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

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

Enjoy your day; I'm off to Nottingham for more hockey today, so cross your fingers for a fine day! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEST FAMILY EVER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	PAPER FLORIST DIES (35.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON COMBO PACK (11.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)

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 Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with for our 200th (yes, 200th!) challenge: 

I went on the diagonal from bottom left to top right with stencil, flower, sentiment and took the opportunity to have another play with my Loveliest Layers Decorative Masks, this time using both the flower and background stencil and a little fussy cutting - take a look:

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

Double Decorative Masks - I wanted to play along with this month's challenge over at The Flower Challenge where they are using floral diecuts or stencils, so stencilled a flower and leaves using the floral stencil, but instead of stencilling directly onto my card base as I have previously, I fussy cut it and set it to one side whilst I created a background using the other stencil in the set. I created an ombre background using the same shade of pink and purple that I used for my flower using my blending brushes, then used my background stencil to apply shimmery white embossing paste over the top. This adds both a touch of sparkle and some textural interest; be sure to clean your stencil quickly though once you've used is with paste, to avoid it drying onto it and proving difficult to remove. You can see the detail of both stencils more clearly below:

Best Family Ever - The sentiment on my card comes from a stamp set called 'Best Family Ever' - so useful for customisable greetings and great value too. I stamped it in Highland Heather onto a white circle punched with my 1 3/4" circle punch.

Online Exclusives - Before you wonder where the word 'retired' was in front of the reference above to my 1 3/4" circle punch, fear not - it's not there because circle punches are back! Well a 1 3/4" and a 2" version at least, as part of the Online Exclusives range that launched at the start of the month. As you would expect, these items can be found under the 'Online Exclusives' section of my online store - they can be ordered online directly or by placing your order with me, but the important thing to note is that just like our range of craft and card kits, they will not appear in any catalogue publications. Purchase your circle punch and see the rest of the current Online Exclusives range in my online store here. 

I finished my card with some sparkly ribbon, twine and a collection of pearls, gems and enamel dots to compliment my colour scheme.

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; my day has been a busy one, but since I have a Parents' School Exchange Meeting at school this evening, I am being rewarded with dinner out with the youngest of the James Juniors in order that we can fit everything in - what a treat! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVELIEST LAYERS DECORATIVE MASKS (10.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)	BEST FAMILY EVER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	1-3/4" (4.4 CM) CIRCLE PUNCH (21.00)	WHITE 3/8'' (1 CM) GLITTERED ORGANDY RIBBON (8.00)	PASTEL PEARLS (6.25)
OPAL ROUNDS (7.00)	ENAMEL DOT ESSENTIALS (7.50)	SHIMMERY WHITE EMBOSSING PASTE (8.50)	PALETTE KNIVES (4.75)	BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	BLUSHING BRIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)