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 fresh colour challenge for us to work with:

I have made some time-consuming cards this week (check out my earlier posts in case you missed them) - but today's card definitely wasn't one of them! I saw Stef's colours and knew I had some retired paper in my stash featuring all three colours that would be perfect. So I grabbed some dies and the great layout over at Sketch Saturday and set to work. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

The retired You're A Peach designer series papers feature all three of Stef's chosen colours, so I chose a couple of my favourites and cut a couple of rectangular panels, one with a (retired) Everyday Details die, and layered them up as per the sketch. I went with a sentiment from the Grateful Blessing stamp set, embossed on a blue circle cut with one of the Spotlight on Nature Dies for an additional pop of colour:

Three simple layers, a couple of diecuts, a heat-embossed sentiment, some enamel dots and a twine bow - done! A great standby card for my stash and I managed to use up some of my retired papers too - bonus.

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: 

GRATEFUL BLESSING PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (£20.00)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)
BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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

OK - hands up: how many of you save little bits and pieces thinking 'I'm sure they will come in handy'? Well, this week Jan's recycling challenge is the perfect opportunity for you to get them out and turn them into something! I received a gift last Christmas that had the little wooden tag on that I used on today's card attached - and it has been sat in my embellishments box ever since. So today was the perfect opportunity to turn it into a new project - take a look at what I came up with:

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

In the spirit of the challenge, not only did I recycle this wooden tag, but the paper and diecuts on my card were also leftovers from other projects that I found in my scrapbox. The paper is from the Winter Meadow DSP pack which is still available (link at the bottom of this post). I had one small piece, so cut a horizontal patterned piece then cut another using the blue pattern on the reverse to sit behind it. The diecuts were also leftovers from my box: the Lost Lagoon pieces I snipped from a larger pinecone diecut and the Shaded Spruce pine sprigs were also a good match for the paper, so I used those too! I tied the wooden sentiment tag with some (retired) silver twine and added a sprinkle of rhinestones for some added wintry sparkle:

Since the sentiment was etched onto the wooden tag, this became a no-stamping card - other than for a sentiment on the inside. So quick, easy and used up lots of bits and pieces - and another Christmas card for my stash!

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: 

WINTER MEADOW 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£16.00)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

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 she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I actually went really simple with my design this week, choosing to feature one of the designs in the new Beautiful Gallery designer paper pack - take a look:

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

The Beautiful Gallery paper pack has some beautiful painted designs and I decided to use this harbour design as the focal point for my card. I wanted to use as much of the sheet as possible, so I trimmed my DSP sheet to cover my entire cardfront then cut my three rectangles out of it using my paper trimmer, backing each one with Secret Sea cardstock before carefully gluing the panels back in place. This way I managed to use the panels to add interest without breaking the scene. 

I rotated the sketch through 180 degrees as the positioning for my sentiment banner obscured less of my image this way; I added a simple greeting using the 'Best Family Ever' stamp and added a twine bow and some sequins for just a little extra decoration to complete my card:

This is going to be my Father's Day card for my Dad. I know we are still a few weeks away from the day itself, but it feels good to be organised for once!

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 going to cheer along my husband who has entered into out local 10k race run this morning, then we will be enjoying a carb-rich lunch to celebrate on completion and are heading out to the cinema this afternoon to see the final Mission Impossible movie - any other Tom Cruise fans out there? I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BEAUTIFUL GALLERY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)

BEST FAMILY EVER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£11.50)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (£7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host again this week as Stef and I had a swap around to accommodate our respective vacation plans. It's Clean and Simple Challenge Week and this one has a fun theme chosen by Stef too:

Things that fly! Lots of options here and whilst I don't have much in my current collection of stamp sets that fit the bill, I knew exactly where I was headed with this one and when I saw Kim's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches it was just perfect for me to put my ideas into action! Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Busy Bees - I chose a bee as my 'things that fly' for today's card - specifically, the little bee in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set. I stamped him all over a white panel and coloured in his yellow stripes with Daffodil Delight Blends markers, followed by a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to add shine to their wings. Here's a close up of my full panel as I was constructing my card:

Play On Words With Party Alphabet Dies - Having decorated my panel with bees, I promptly covered much of it up! I diecut a letter 'B' from a panel of Basic Black using my new Party Alphabet Dies - have you seen these on page 86 of the new catalogue? These are larger than life and great for scrapbooking and card making alike and yes, I have lots of alphabets - now I have another one in my collection!! I used the negative space of the 'B' on my card, so that my buzzy friends could be seen through the aperture (remember to keep the two pieces from the inside of the letter too!):

How fun is that?! I paired my 'B' with the word 'happy' to make the sentiment 'B/Be/Bee Happy' - do you see what I did there, with my fun play on words?! This 'happy' was from the 'Friends for Life' stamp set and I chose that one because I liked the font, but you could use the 'happy' in the 'Choose Happy' stamp set too as an alternative.

A Philosophical Message - I finished the inside of my card with another simple, yet profound sentiment:

With everything going on in the world, it is easy to take a less than positive view; sometimes we need to be reminded that happiness is a choice and one that we, as humans with free will, can make for ourselves each and every day. Even though it can be hard, happiness is ours to cultivate through our thoughts and actions and when we cultivate it for ourselves, it is easier to spread joy and share those feelings with others too. On that note, here ends today's post!

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 shall be spending mine with my nearest and dearest who make me happy - and hoping that the youngest of the James Juniors is not feeling too worse for wear following last night's hockey club dinner - especially since he has to sit his second A level Economics paper tomorrow! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PARTY ALPHABET DIES (£93.00)	CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£9.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	BLACK STAMPIN' DIMENSIONALS COMBO PACK (£6.00)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£12.00)

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; it's colour challenge time and she has a beautiful trio of colours for us to work with:

I knew I was going to have to go floral with those pretty colours so pulled out an old favourite and set to work. Take a look:

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

Layers of Beauty - It's been a few weeks, but I still have so many more ideas and techniques that I want to share using the 'Layers of Beauty' stamp set that I thought today would be another great opportunity - I just love those flowers and the stencils are awesome!

Floating Frame Technique - Today's card was somewhat born out of a 'happy accident'. When I made this card, the one I shared was actually the second one I made; I got a smudge on the panel of the first one, so made another. It seemed a shame to bin the first one, so I recut the diecuts and since they had scorelines down the middle, cut along the scorelines too. this gave me four pieces - perfect for a floating frame. Today's card uses the same technique, but with one of the other sentiments in the set, clustering in the flowers around the greeting:

I added a sprinkle of Berry Burst sequins to fill some of the gaps and add a little extra shimmer and shine.

Finishing Touches - At the same time that I stamped and stencilled the flowers for the outside of my card, I added another to both the inside and the envelope. It takes very little extra effort, but makes for a nice finishing touch:

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. 

In case you're wondering what the other card that I mentioned above looked like, here's a photo - call it a bonus!

This was such a fun technique to revisit and yet another example of the versatility of the Layers of Beauty set.

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

Enjoy your day; the youngest of the James Juniors is now officially on study leave, pending the start of his A Level examinations, so today is all about revision - his first paper is tomorrow and Economics is the subject of the day (rather him than me!) so the rest of us will be keeping a low profile in order that he can get his head down. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LAYERS OF BEAUTY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£19.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DIES (£28.00)	LAYERS OF BEAUTY DECORATIVE MASKS (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BUBBLE BATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
LOST LAGOON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£7.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS TRIO (£3.75)

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 I have a fun theme challenge for us to work with:

As crafters we are always adding to our crafty stash, so today's challenge is about pairing something that you recently bought with an old favourite. I have some beautiful new floral sets from the upcoming annual catalogue that I hadn't had the chance to play with yet, so today was the perfect opportunity to remedy that. I was inspired by the colours of those beautiful tulips in the top right corner of Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo and used the layout over at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

Pretty Florals - Today's card really is all about the florals - this card is choc-full of them! I used the new Pretty Florals Dies and diecut a trio of blooms and buds from Pretty In Pink cardstock and inked them with Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo and layered them into a floral cascade, interspersed with some bright green leaf foliage. I love the diecut detail and unusual layering of these large flowers (peonies, perhaps?) - so pretty! I also added some fine white and clear Wink of Stella ink splatters to my blooms and cardbase for a little extra detail.  

Sweet Blooms - The Florals in Bloom Suite contains two bundles: the Pretty Florals bundle that I used for the flowers, and the Sweet Blooms bundle, that is predominantly a sentiment-builder set based around two large sentiment dies - I used the 'bloom' one on today's card. I cut the uppermost layer out of co-ordinating glimmer paper for some extra sparkle and shine:

I also added some in-colour pink glimmer gems because, well, you can never have enough pink!

Brickwork Texture - The 'old favourite' item on my card is the Exposed Brick 3D Embossing Folder that I used to add texture to my Smoky Slate card base. I'm not a big EF user, but this one is a keeper and definitely one of my favourites.

I love the mix of old and new products on this card and I'm really pleased with how my finished card turned out; I think I'll be getting a lot use from these new bundles.

CAS Take Two - I had some spare blossoms cut and coloured leftover from my card, so decided to use them up and make a quick card for the clean and simple colour challenge over at AAA Cards, since I had used 3 of their 4 colours:

I used the same sentiment but this time stamped it directly onto my white cardbase, next to my simple flower stem:

 The detail on these flowers really is something, don't you think?

 As you can see, the Pretty Florals and Sweet Blooms bundles are great for both super detailed and layered cards, and clean and simple ones too. here's a photo of both cards together:

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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

And for the second card:

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; the weather has turned cooler again here in the UK so I think I might have the opportunity to indulge in a little crafting; I had lots more ideas for new projects when I was playing yesterday, so I'm keen to get them down on paper! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EXPOSED BRICK 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£10.25)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	PRETTY IN PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ GLIMMER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£10.25)	2024–2026 IN COLOR™ SHIMMER GEMS (£4.80)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£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 Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

I knew I wanted to play with my Floral Delights papers today; the Delightful Wishes Suite was my first choice from the mini catalogue - I do love yellow! - yet it hasn't seen anywhere near enough love, so today is a step towards changing that - take a look:

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

Floral Delights - I decided I would stick with the basic round shape in the sketch and use this as the basis for my collection of fussy cut flowers, taken straight from the Floral Delights papers. I wanted to create an arch of flowers to frame my sentiment, so just layered them up until I was happy with the arrangement.

Delightful Wishes - The 'wishing' die is my favourite element of the Delightful Wishes bundle - along with the other sentiments in the set, so many bespoke greetings can be created. Today I went for 'Wishing You Well' - this would work as a get well soon card, but also as a farewell or even good luck wishes for the future. I stamped part of the sentiment onto my diecut circle, then overlaid my 'wishing' diecut onto the cluster of flowers added previously. The white border of the diecut, along with the white border of my fussy cut flowers and the mat layer all tie in to give a neat, uniform appearance. 

Just Two Colours - I was originally intending to use some yellow gingham plaid for my base, but my ribbon got rather lost amongst the pattern. When I spied this faux-textured Old Olive paper, I immediately switched - it works so much better. Almost without trying, I ended up using only two colours on today's card: yellow and green (with white as a neutral). I'm so pleased with the finished effect - and I hope the ladies over at Color Dare will like it too, since they are also looking for two-colour combos including yellow this week. 

I'm pleased that the Delightful Wishes bundle is on carryover; the Floral Delights paper though is not, so if you have it in your sights, it's your last chance to snap it up. The link to it in the online store is below - you're welcome ;-)

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; the hubby and I went to the theatre yesterday evening to watch 'War Horse', the dramatisation of Michael Morpurgo's famous book of the same name. It was amazing - the life-size mechanical horse puppets really were a sight to behold. Back down to earth today! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FLORAL DELIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	DELIGHTFUL WISHES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT 1/8" (3.2 MM) SATIN RIBBON (£7.50)	SPOTLIGHT ON NATURE DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
OLD OLIVE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Elizabeth to host this week and she has a sweet clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Since it's Easter Sunday, I had to go with another Easter bunny on my card today - take a look:

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

I used the cute little bunny from the 'Choose Happy' stamp set for my bunny, coloured him with pink Stampin' Blends and added him to a tag that I made using one of the Something Fancy Dies:

The colours were taken from the strip of Wildflower Birthday designer series paper that I used behind, and a sentiment along with a few enamel dots and sequins were all I needed to finish my super simple card. Having made my card, I also took the opportunity to make some quick co-ordinating Easter bunny treats:

I was inspired by these bunnies here, but adapted the measurements to fit a smaller Lindt chocolate ball. They really are so simple - all you need is a 10.5" x 2" strip of designer paper, folded in half lengthways then score at 1", 2.75", 4", 5.25", 6", 6.5", 7", 7.75" and 9.5" intervals, using a bone folder to round the body and ear sections to create the bunny shape:

They are so easy you could make the basic shape in a few minutes - if you're quick, you might still have time to get them done to add to your Easter table!

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 hope it's filled with more chocolate eggs than are strictly good for you! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHOOSE HAPPY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	SOMETHING FANCY DIES (£10.80)	WILDFLOWER BIRTHDAY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£16.00)	PRETTY IN PINK 3/8" (1 CM) BORDERED RIBBON (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£10.50)	PRETTY IN PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)
PRETTY IN PINK STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£10.75)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS 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 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 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)