Good morning lovely readers! Today I am sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Pals Paper Arts:

I'm not usually one to gravitate towards colour challenges (I'm more of a sketch gal as you well know!) but I thought this was a great colour combo chosen by the equally great Brian King and so that, combined with the fact that he finds my English spelling of the word 'colour' in and of itself rather quirky, I just had to play along! Here's my card:

I decided to make a bold statement using blocks of colour, with Basic Black as my base and each of the other colours cut with both the positive and negative pieces of the intricate leaf framelit from the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies and pieced together for my base. I stamped my sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed it in white on an oval of Basic Black, which I then popped up on dimensionals in the centre of my card. What to use to tie the whole thing together though? I decide to have a go at making a loopy flower out of the new thick baker's twine that comes in the challenge colours; I made a few but decided one was enough to ground my sentiment and bring the whole thing together. If you've never made one of these before, they are really not that tricky when you know how. With that in mind, I made another short technique tutorial to show you how it's done - I haven't yet had time to edit it though, so will share with you later in the week. 

That's all from me today; I have a private class this morning with a wonderful group of seniors at a local residential care home and then a few jobs this afternoon before taking the James Juniors for their music lessons. Another busy day!

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Baker's Twine Combo Pack	Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Big Shot	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	It's My Party Enamel Dots	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Heat Tool (Uk)

Hello to you from James Towers this morning! It's cold outside but we haven't had any more snow, much to the disappointment of my James juniors who were so hoping for a snow day today! 

Today's card is for the current 2 year anniversary challenge over at Fusion where they have this wonderful summery photo inspiration and optional sketch to play along with:

I used the photo and the sketch for my card today, albeit I used the sketch in a landscape rather than portrait orientation as it suited my embellishments a little better. Here is my card:

I used a base of extra thick Whisper White cardstock and covered the lower part with a piece of chevron designer series paper from last year's Brights dsp stack. I added a strip of Melon Mambo cardstock and also used it to frame my 'Hello' sentiment, from the Sale-A-Bration stamp set of the same name. I added a trio of layered flowers in pinks and yellow, for my embellishment. I cut each of them using the Botanical Builder Framelits Dies, adding some sponging for added depth. These framelits make gorgeous flowers with so much layering and interest and if you run them through your Big Shot with the Precision Base Plate and use the new Big Shot Die Brush to remove the cuts from the dies, they are incredibly easy to make.

I just love the breath of summer that the colours and flowers of today's card evoke - makes me forget the freezing temperatures outside, even if just for a little while! That's all from me today; I have a busy day with a piano lesson, some final preparation for a private class tomorrow and I'm off to watch Rebecca's first netball match of the season this afternoon - thankfully, indoors! Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Botanical Builder Framelits Dies	Hello Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock
Pink Pirouette A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Big Shot	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies