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

I love Stef's bright colour palette this week - it's totally in my wheelhouse! I wanted to give one of my current favourite online-exclusive florals another outing, so I took the 2 prompts of 'floral' and 'arch' over at Time Out Challenges and went across the bottom row of the Tic Tac Toe Challenge board with flower/ink blending/embellishments and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Double Mixed Florals and A Colouring Tip - I love these colours together! I decided to use Coastal Cabana for my card base, and added a diecut arch in some (retired) geometric paper in the same colour for my base, then used the remaining colours for my florals. I decided to use both of the large floral images in the Mixed Florals bundle together on my card and also included the foliage diecut behind although you can hardly see that because of all the lovely flowers! I used my Stampin' Blends in Highland Heather, Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple Green to colour my florals, adding in a darker purple to give more of a Gorgeous Grape feel with a rogue Sharpie from my collection (feel free to join me in my campaign for Gorgeous Grape Blends markers any time!). Did you notice how seemlessly the florals blend with the background? That's because once I'd coloured my flowers, I also coloured all of the remaining white space with my (retired) Coastal Cabana Blendabilities markers (I'm campaigning to have this colour in Blends too!!) This takes a little time, but is well worth it I think - I much prefer this effect to white edges for this kind of card.

Saying Hey - Bold florals require a bold sentiment, so on today's card I added 'hey' from the 'Saying Hey' stamp set. This is another of those sets that is on the Last Chance List this week; this is my favourite sentiment in this set - it can be paired with anything on the inside and is great for a bold statement on the front of a card.

Tiny Bees - A loop of (retired) Gorgeous Grape ribbon and a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets are the only additional elements on today's card; you can see those tiny bees on the close-up below:

They would be easy to miss amongst those bright colours and bold florals, but they are great for a fun, postal-friendly embellishment - so cute!

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 haven't crafted in over a week - the weather in the UK has been so glorious, I've been spending all my time in the garden, getting everything tidied up and looking a little more inviting. The weather is due to turn today though, with showers returning. Since my new catalogue pre-order arrived on Friday, this timing might have worked out quite well - it's time to play! I do need to have a good craft room clear-out first though, so it's probably a good job I have a few projects already made to share with you. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	SAYING HEY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (8.00)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)	COASTAL CABANA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)

Today we are back to florals! I'm sharing a card that I made featuring the fresh colours over at Colour Dare (I used all 4) that is also for the current use two or more sentiments over at Inkspirational:

I created a clean and simple card using one of my favourite Online Exclusive bundles, Thankful Garden - take a look:

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

Today's card uses both the Thankful Garden stamp set and dies and a stencil - but not the one that comes in the bundle. I stamped my first sentiment onto the bottom corner of my card then diecut the primrose flower out of the card front (tip: if you stamp the flower first, you can keep the diecut and use on another project) then use the aperture as a guide to align the stamp and stamp onto the inside of the card. I created a stencil from window sheet using the same die and used this to add Lemon Lolly ink with a blending brush to the stamped image.

I cut three narrow strips in Lemon Lolly, Bubble Bath and Soft Sea Foam, glued them across the diagonal to the front of my card and then diecut the central section again, allowing the florals to remain visible. I then added a fourth strip in Garden Green, onto which I heat embossed my second sentiment. I positioned the strip across the pastel diagonals and this time allowed it to overhang the open aperture:

A trio of pink enamel dots complete my card. I wouldn't normally add one black inked sentiment with the other heat-embossed in white, but I think it works, given the contrasting base colours. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

THANKFUL GARDEN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (62.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)
LEMON LOLLY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Jan to host this week and she has an interesting theme challenge for us to work with:

I was so tempted to make a scrapbook page this week, especially since it's ages since I shared one, but alas I couldn't find a suitable photo, and ultimately ran out of time, so decided to make a card. I finally booked my summer vacation last week, so I have beaches on my mind; along with the colours over at Colour Inkspiration this is what I came up with:

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

Beach Day - I have gotten so much use out of the Beach day stamp and dies, so it's no surprise that they are making another appearance on today's card. I am sad to see them appear on the last chance list as retiring items this week, however this is one bundle that I won't part with - the elements in it are so useful and many of the dies work without the stamped images too. I actually bought this bundle to scrapbook with, yet here I am sharing another card! I usually use the diecut-only lifeguard hut, but today I thought I'd go with the stamped version. I left it mostly white, with little pops of red, green and blue in the challenge colours.

Soft Waves - I wanted to create a little beach scene on today's card, but also to use my Soft Waves embossing folder, so I decided to use a whole background panel of Azure Afternoon, embossed with waves, to sit behind my beach scene. This is my biggest splash of colour; in addition to the details on the beach house, I added a little of the same colour behind my beach hut for some sky and some Daffodil Delight blended across the bottom of my feature panel for the sand, stamping some shells here and there along with some Mossy Meadow sea grass to ground it. It makes for an abstract scene, but I think it works!

Wishing To A Wish - I used that traditional postcard greeting of 'wish you were here' on my card, that I fashioned out of the stamps and dies in the Delightful Wishes bundle. The die actually spells 'wishing', but it was easy to snip down to make the word 'wish':

I am going to save this card to send to the youngest of the James Juniors when us Seniors take our first child-free holiday, which won't be that far away now! Something that comes with mixed emotions for sure, but I'm looking forward to how much more economical it will be, so definitely a silver lining too! I'm also linking this card up over at Just Us Girls (thank you for last week's shout out!) where it's Die Week - no flowers; there have been a lot of florals of late, so today's card is ringing the changes.

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; we have been enjoying some lovely spring weather here in the UK this past week, so I am finally able to get outside and spend more time in the garden getting it ready for summer. Looking forward to doing a little more of that this afternoon, along with baking a raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake for lunch - yum! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEACH DAY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (11.40)	BEACH DAY DIES (12.80)	SOFT WAVES 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)	AZURE AFTERNOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	AZURE AFTERNOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne 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 went across the top row with flowers(cake and sentiment decoration)/pink (cake and ribbon)/ribbon (behind the circle) and created a special birthday card - take a look:

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

A Deja Vu Moment - If you're looking at today's card and thinking there's something familiar about it - you'd be right! This is the other card that I mentioned in last Sunday's post that also uses Ann's sketch - although this one uses it in a different way. I still used the 'Celebrate' diecut element for the horizontal, but used the circle to extend my sentiment using a greeting from the Birthday Celebration bundle and instead of a shaker, I used the centre of my frame to house one of the panels of the Wildflower Celebration paper. In addition to whole patterned sheets and diecuts, there is also a sheet made up of pre-printed panels in varying sizes that feature birthday imagery too and the tiered fancy pink birthday cake was just what I needed for this special card.

Retired Favourites - I did use a few retired favourites on today's card: the white diecut frame was made using a couple of Stitched rectangle dies, the frame itself is Seaside Spray cardstock and I backed my 'Celebrate' diecut with vellum. I also used some retired glitter gold gems. All of these could be substituted with alternatives from your stash.

Age Is Just A Number - I finished my card with a diecut number '80', which I cut using the Birthday Celebration number dies. I created a blue drop shadow to make the standout and added them to the centre of my cake:

Here's the thing though - I am of the view that as we get older, milestone birthdays should be recognised and celebrated and as such, numbers on a card should make a return. I was discussing this with my mother-in-law over lunch last week, who recently turned 80 and has many friends of a similar age, but she felt strongly to the contrary - that as we age we don't wish to be reminded of the fact and it was a source of some dismay amongst her friendship group, so much so that they keep an informal of tally of number cards between them for precisely the opposite reason. So what do you think - are numbers on cards a 'yay or a 'nay'? Do leave me a comment below with your thoughts! 

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; today is Mothering Sunday here in the UK and whilst I won't see my own Mum in person today, I am looking forward to being spoiled by the youngest of the James Juniors, with a roast lamb lunch and something special for pudding too. Happy Mother's Day to anyone else reading this who is celebrating today; I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (39.50)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	WANTED TO SAY DIES (37.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)
BLUEBERRY BUSHEL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLUEBERRY BUSHEL A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (7.00)

Today I'm sharing a card that was inspired by one of the beautiful images in the current Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo:

I love so many of the photos in this inspiration picture, but today's card was totally inspired by that blueish foliage and those petal pink roses of the central photo on the top row - take a look:

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

Layers of Beauty - I adore the Layers of Beauty bundle, not least because it has a fantastic set of layering stencils with it too. Just three ink allow for so much detail and dimension - look at this close up to see what I mean:

The pink-peach tones of these roses are gorgeous, aren't they? I'm also linking up with the ladies over at Just Us Girls this week as it's stencil week; I've used these stencils for this challenge previously, but their versatility means that my card is completely different to my previous efforts - yay!

Diecut Fancy Fold - I have made such a wide variety of cards using this bundle (just search Layers of Beauty on my blog to see what I mean!) and each time I reach for it, I challenge myself to create something different. Today I thought I'd create a fancy fold using the large diecut florals. I stamped, stencilled and diecut two of the main images, then aligned them so that they crossed my card front and met in the middle, then scored them vertically and glued the outer edges to the back of my card. To open the card, the diecuts are opened left and right, to reveal the inner cardfront onto which I stamped my greeting:

 This card front can then be opened upwards to reveal the inside of the card:

I'm not sure if this kind of design has a special name - I'm just calling it 'diecut fancy fold' but if anyone believes it to have a specific name, do let me know!

Finishing Touches - I stamped and stencilled both the inside panel and the envelope at the same time as I made my card; if you stencil each layer as you go along, it doesn't take much longer to add these finishing touches. 

I love this card; I considered adding a butterfly - that's the only thing missing from the inspo photo - but I only have the Paper Butterfly Accents as current supplies and they didn't look right, and whilst I undoubtedly have something more appropriate on the retired boxes, they were proving elusive to say the least! I still love this card even without it, so I hope the HSS team will forgive this oversight ;-)

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:

LAYERS OF BEAUTY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (54.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	LOW-PROFILE DOTS (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 Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I still had my Wildflower Birthday designer series papers out on my desk after making yesterday's card and I actually made a couple of cards using Ann's sketch. Both were quite different and I'll share the first one I made another time, but for today I wanted to share my favourite - take a look:

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

Everyday Arches Shaker - I decided to play with the layers of Ann's card, and create a central shaker element using the Everyday Arches Dies. I used a simple flat shaker, by filling an acetate bag with gold and teal covered sequins from my stash, along with a few gold birthday candles, and simply taped this to the reverse of my arch opening. This is a fun way to make a quick shaker and means you can keep any dimension for the other elements of your card.

Wildflower Birthday - The main focal point of my card is one of the delicious-looking over-the-top birthday cake diecuts from the Wildflower Birthday designer series paper pack. I just love these for a special birthday card! I used another of the paper designs for the frame to surround my shaker, widening the frame so that lots of the pattern is on show.

Wanted to Say - Today's card is a no-stamping card (other than the sentiment on the inside of my card). This wasn't by design - my first card that I made included a stamped sentiment - but as I put my card together, I liked the cleaner layers achieved by using bold diecuts and instead added a layered 'Celebrate' from the Wanted To Say Dies instead - this one pairs with the Birthday Celebration bundle perfectly:

This card is a non-standard size (it actually measures 15cm x 18.5cm) so will need a custom envelope. I think this is a good size to accommodate some of the larger diecut elements in the designer paper, but you could scale down and create something more compact if you prefer.

I'm linking today's card up with the ladies over at The Alphabet Challenge blog where they are at 'Y is for Yummy' - that birthday cake certainly does look delicious to me!

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; no specific plans here today, perhaps some time pottering in the garden if the weather holds. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)

WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and it's clean and simple week! So along with minimal layers and embellishments and lots of white space, I have a fun theme for us to work with too:

Use just a single stamped image on your card - aside from a sentiment too if you wish, only one stamped image. A single image makes a great focal point for a clean and simple card; I paired mine with a great sketch layout over at Hand Stamped Sentiments and indulged in a spot of colouring on my card - take a look:

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

One More Year - I love the 'One More Year' stamp set for fun and quirky cards for both young people and the young-at-heart. In addition to a set of humorous mix and match sentiments, 'One More Year' features a trio of single stamped images that make great focal points too - I used the cheese and wine image, stamped onto a Nested Essentials diecut, adding some simple colour with my Stampin' Blends:

Clean and Simple - In addition to my stamped diecut, I added a couple of banner flags and a twist of gingham ribbon as per the sketch. Ordinarily I wouldn't use ribbon on a clean and simple card, but with such a simple design and that being the only embellishment, it adds detail whilst still allowing the card to have a clean design. 

Finishing Touches - I stamped and coloured the same image to decorate the inside of my card and stamped the other half of my sentiment to complete my card:

This is such a great set for clean and simple cards! What images do you like to use on your clean and simple cards? Leave me a comment below or better still, make a card and play along with us over at The Paper Players 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:

Enjoy your day; I don't have any special plans today; I'll be spending some time in the kitchen and generally having an easy day. I'll be back tomorrow soon another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ONE MORE YEAR CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (32.00)	LEMON LOLLY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LOLLY STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BLACK & VERY VANILLA 3/8" (1 CM) LARGE CHECK RIBBON (7.50)

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 a pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

I don't often use pastel colours and certainly not exclusively, so this week was something of a challenge for me. I decided in honour of Jaydee not being a 'pink' person (I don't believe her - she often uses pink to great effect!!), that Bubble Bath would be my feature colour and when I saw the palette at Color Dare, I decided to pair it with Fresh Freesia, Soft Sea Foam and a hint of Pool Party for my pastel vibes - take a look at where I ended up:

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

Add Colour - To achieve tones of the same colour, I diecut all of my flowers and leaves from solid colour cardstock and for the detailed top layer, I added the same colour ink with a blending brush to give a further depth of colour. 

Add Texture - This card is choc-full of texture with all of the diecut layers! Both the background die and the florals are all from the Delightful Wishes bundle and are diecut only - no stamping required. There are so many layers that with the exception of the sentiment, I didn't use any dimensionals; just by overlaying the flowers you can create depth and texture.

Add Movement - Finally I added a trio of Tiny Bee Trinkets - these little buzzy fellows don't actually move of course, but their presence gives a suggestion of movement to the card.

So what do you think - are pastels for you? Whilst they are generally not a 'go-to' for me, I really love the softness of the finished card. I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone features pastels in the gallery 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:

Enjoy your day; I am hoping to get out in the garden today and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather we've been having here in the UK this week - long may it continue! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (46.75)	TINY BEE TRINKETS (8.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)
BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

I had a little extra time in my craft room over the weekend so today I'm sharing a super quick clean and simple card that I made for a couple of challenges:

The CAS on Friday layout is a good one and I thought it would be fun to play along with Inkspirational who this week are all about clean and simple too, with the optional choice of ephemera. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Do you ever look at the Memories and More packs in the Stampin' Up! catalogue? They are great for memory keeping but super useful for cards and home decor projects too. They contain both large and small cards, some of which are a cardfront in themselves, and usually a couple of sheets of ephemera or stickers. On my card today, I diecut a tag from one of the black and white patterned large cards and tied it with some black baker's twine - the twine, along with my bright yellow cardbase, were the only additional items to the Memories and More pack that I used on today's card. I cut a couple of strips from other cards in the pack to sit behind my tag, then added a circular sticker featuring tulips as my focal point:

I added a few of the individual coloured flower stickers to my tag for little pops of colour and a sentiment sticker that was also from the set to complete my card. The Mixed Media Florals Memories and More Pack really is great for this kind of quick, no stamping card; all of the elements coordinate in terms of colour and pattern, you just need to choose your favourites and create! The thing I love most about this card is the Daffodil Delight cardbase; I almost made my card with a white base, but when I'd laid it out, it looked a little 'flat'. The sunny yellow definitely fixed that!

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 later with my card for our new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MIXED MEDIA FLORALS MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (10.75)

BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (10.25)

DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

At last - March has arrived! Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Claire to host this week and she has a seasonal theme challenge for us to work with:

Spring flowers - I am so ready for spring! It has been beautifully crisp and sunny here in the UK for the last few days and finally there are signs of spring. Snowdrops and crocuses are blossoming, and daffodils are starting to bloom, with tulips not far behind. I knew that for today's card I wanted to create something bright and colourful using the tulips stamp in the Mixed Florals stamp set - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Full Of Life - My colour scheme for today's card was inspired by the piece of pink and orange ombre paper from the Full of Life pack. Like me, Claire is a fan of bright colours and I thought this injection of brights is just what was needed to propel us into spring! 

Mixed Florals - I used the large image featuring tulips on the front of my card - along with daffodils, tulips are the flower that most represents spring to me. I used lots of colours to get the blend of colours for my florals; I added some brass butterflies along with a Lemon-Lime Twist diecut piece behind, but really wanted the coloured florals to take centre stage:

I finished the front of my card with a diecut sentiment from the Greetings For All pack - I needed a bold sentiment to balance out the design.

Everyday Arches - I used one of the Everyday Arches Dies to frame my ombre designer paper on the front of my card, then used the insert to back another and create a simple pop-up design on the inside of my card for extra interest, and added another floral stem to decorate:

This kind of pop-up/out is so easy to use (you just need to score a strip of paper and create a four-sided 'box' to sit between the base and the panel you want to pop) and is a great way to do something a little different to add interest. 

Yay for brights and spring flowers - I can't wait to see what you create for this week's challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

MIXED FLORALS BUNDLE (54.00)	EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (27.00)	GREETINGS FOR ALL MIX & MATCH EPHEMERA PACK (ENGLISH) (6.75)	FULL OF LIFE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	BRUSHED BRASS BUTTERFLIES (9.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)
PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PUMPKIN PIE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	PEACH PIE STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	LEMON LIME TWIST STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)