I've had a busy week with preparations for classes and my forthcoming weekend craft retreat, so I've had to take a short blogging break. Today I'm sharing a card that was totally inspired by the vibrant colour palette over at TGIF Challenges this week:

This colour palette is so bright I just couldn't resist! I decided that these colours would be perfect for a tropical orchid and set to work - take a look:

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

Climbing Orchid - I must confess this is the first time I've used this stamp; I bought it having seen the fabulous creations my wonderful Paper Players friend Nance Leedy created with it and following the stunning birthday card she sent me with it last year (you can see her card here but if you search for 'Climbing Orchid' on Nance's blog you will see lots of fabulous samples using this set). As I was musing what to do with these colours, another of my Paper Players teamies, the lovely LeAnne Pugliese of WeeInklings, posted a photo on her blog of a fabulous real-life orchid that has just bloomed having nurtured it for a whole year (apparently an ice cube a day is the secret!) and as I mused that I have never managed to keep a houseplant going for that long, it dawned on me that an orchid would be perfect for this colour combo. I stamped my orchids in Berry Burst directly onto Pineapple Punch cardstock as I didn't want to see white borders on my flowers, then I also added a little sponged Berry Burst ink to the petals. 

More Stitched Frames - I mounted my orchid on a tone-on-tone stitched rectangle frame and card base and stamped my sentiment on the inner panel. What can I say - these frames are a winner and I love them!

A Post-Friendly Version - I used the co-ordinating Orchid Builder framelits to cut out the layered petals and shaped them with my bone folder for a dimensional effect on the card above, which is headed to someone special who has a birthday coming up who I know will appreciate the effort involved. I am also able to hand-deliver, as this card is not particularly post-friendly. I did however create a second, slightly less involved and more post-friendly version using one of the other sentiments in the set which will be heading overseas that I thought I would also share with you for comparison:

And here's a picture of the two cards together:

I love these cards - why ever did I wait so long to use this set?! I think I'm going to make one of these 3D versions in a pot to keep on my windowsill - I'm sure this is the only houseplant likely to survive in the James household for a year or more! I'm also linking today's card up with the ladies over at SUO Challenges where the 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 '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:

Climbing Orchid Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Orchid Builder Framelits Dies (£23.00)	Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Berry Burst Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.00)

Yay - it's Friday, bring on the weekend! Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Less is More where I haven't played for a while:

I had a short window for a spot of crafting yesterday and thought I'd whip up another clean and simple card using a couple of new products that fits perfectly with their theme this week - take a look:

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

By The Bay - The seagulls paddling on the shoreline that feature on today's card are reminiscent of the ones that featured in the much loved and now retired Wetlands set (anyone else remember that set?) albeit with a little more definition, and they are one of three line-drawn images that feature with three sentiments in 'By The Bay', one of the stamp sets that can be yours free with a purchase of £45 or more during Sale-A-Bration. Perfect for colouring the images are large enough to stand alone but also not so big that they take a long time to colour. I really like this set and you can be sure I will be using it more before the promotion is over. 

Another Way To Frame - To frame my image, I used a new favourite of mine, the Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies, but this time to cute an aperture frame into my cardfront. I then adhered my watercoloured image behind this. I like the subtle added detail that this gives to a clean and simple card, without adding overt layers. 

Ways With Watercolour - I feel like I've been watercolouring a lot on my cards lately; I don't consider myself to be by any means an expert at watercolouring, but I think that's why I'm enjoying it so much; on watercolour paper, it's easy to build up colour without needing to be too precise in terms of the overall effect. It would take ages if I was to attempt to properly draw and paint the image to achieve omething like this, so I'm grateful that stamps, ink and an aquapainter enable me to produce something this good in a fraction of the time! I used a combination of blues, greys and sandy neutrals to colour my image.

If you like today's clean and simple card, by purchasing the key items used below, you can earn the By The Bay stamp set for free - perfect for creating your own watercoloured masterpieces.

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 have a monster basket of ironing to wade through but I'm hoping if I focus I might squeeze in a little stamping time before my afternoon school run, so I'm on a mission! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)

Watercolor Paper (£4.75)

Aqua Painters (£16.00)

By The Bay Cling Stamp Set (£0.00)

We are still enjoying the tail end of the Christmas holidays for the youngest of the James Juniors so today we've been making the most of the fine and sunny day with a long walk and catching up with a movie that we've both wanted to see for some time - there will be time for crafting later in the week! Luckily I got a couple made at the weekend and am on a bit of an animal theme this week inspired by this week's challenge that we have over at The Paper Players and today I'm sharing a card using the sketch for this week's challenge over at CAS(E) This Sketch:

I went for a clean and simple card and a little watercolouring, with one of my favourite new stamp sets from the new Spring-Summer catalogue along with a new 'must have' staple  - take a look:

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

Let It Ride - The galloping horse on the front of today's card is courtesy of the new 'Let It Ride' set. You might be surprised that I like this set so much, as no-one in our family rides or owns horses (although Rebecca did have lessons for a while and made many requests for her own pony until she discovered hockey - phew!) I do have lots of friends that ride though and know I will get lots of use out of this set. I especially like the inspirational phrases that accompany these sketched images - I mean, 'Live life as if someone left the gate open' - what a great quote to live by!

Easy Watercolouring - I stamped my image onto watercolour paper and used my aquapainter to colour my horse, adding a little green to ground him. The sketchy nature of the images in this set really lend themselves to a watercoloured finish, without the need to be too precise. I layered the colour gradually until I was happy with the intensity, allowing each layer to dry briefly before adding more colour.

A New Craft Cupboard Staple - I cropped my main image with that perennial staple of my tool cupboard, my Stitched Circle Framelits.  My regular readers know how much I love these stitched shapes - they are great for adding an extra detail to a simple shape. Stitching generally is very on-trend in the craft world right now, and the new Spring-Summer catalogue debuts a new kid on the block though that is going to come a close second on my 'top 10 framelits' list I think: the new Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies set includes 13 dies, each of which feature stitching both inside and outside the frame and offer lots more ways to expand your creative options. I used them here to crop my sentiment panel, before heat-embossing my sentiment onto it. 

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 evening; tomorrow is the last day of the school holidays (finally!) and following my open house in the morning we will be spending the afternoon with friends. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Let It Ride Cling Stamp Set (£22.00)	Rectangle Stitched Framelits Dies (£33.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad (£9.25)
Watercolor Paper (£4.75)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)	Aqua Painters (£16.00)	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)
Versamark Pad (£8.25)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)