It's Saturday and today I have a special post for you since I, along with the talented Kayla Macaulay, am a guest with the lovely ladies over on the Stampin' Creative Design Team Blog Hop:

You may have just arrived from the colourful Pip Todman over at Queen Pip Cards or alternatively this may be your first stop. Either way, welcome and be sure to continue to the next stop along the hop by clicking on the next name in the list below for more creative ideas. This month the theme is 'party central' and there are lots of ideas and inspiration for parties for many different occasions throughout the hop. 

When I started thinking about what I was going to create today, I immediately jumped to my collection of new catalogue products wondering which new set to use. But in actual fact, I ended up using one of the most long-standing staple items in my crafting arsenal for the majority of my makes today: my Layering Circles Framelits. The next party that I need to plan will be that of the youngest of the James Juniors and whilst we've had lots of debate about what form it will take, one thing is for sure - no party that centres around 11 year old boys is complete without some form of Nerf battle these days, so I decided to get ahead and take the opportunity to start making with this in mind. 

First up is a birthday card that I actually made for a friend of his who is celebrating his birthday today: I used the currently popular 'impossible card' fancy fold and along with some partial diecutting to create a Nerf target for the popped-up section. These cards are really not at all tricky to make, despite their name! You simply score across the horizontal and then make a single cut at the centre of one panel at right angles to this (I made mine at 3"), followed by two cuts wherever you like on the facing panel (mine are at (1 5/8" in from each edge) and then fold each half in opposite directions, leaving a gap front and back and creating the central pop-up. I kept the colour scheme really simple, using the new in-colours Blueberry Bushel and Grapefruit Grove, both of which are a perfect match for Nerf guns and foam bullets, and having layered my diecut target circles added a sight and a bullet popped up on dimensionals for a fun touch. Some in-colour Blueberry Bushel patterned paper and a sentiment courtesy of the Perennial Birthday stamp set finish my card.

This 'impossible card' fold is a fun way to add dimension and interest to a card whilst still enabling it to be folded flat for mailing. My card is an irregular size, since the size of the base was determined by the diameter of the outer target circle. The card measures 5 1/4" x 6" when flat, so requires a bespoke envelope which I created using my trusty Envelope Punch Board with the help of my Envelope Expert tool. 

 The other targets you can see in the forefront of my card are some cake toppers I made. I am currently in the middle of a kitchen renovation and have only a microwave and the BBQ for cooking, so there was no opportunity to bake any cakes to put them in but I'm sure you get the idea!

I also created a fun party favour using Stampin' Up!'s Mini Pizza Boxes. I'm so glad these made it into the annual catalogue, they really are so useful for dressing up for all kinds of things. I brayed my box with Bluberry Bushel ink then created a belly band with another target on top and a thank you tag. Can you guess what is inside?

Yes, more foam Nerf bullets! The Mini Pizza Boxes are the perfect size to house 14 bullets and since the children seem to use hundreds of these when they are playing in their Nerf battles, I figured a few more each wouldn't go amiss!

 Lastly for today I also created a set of freestanding spinning Nerf targets, based on this one I saw over at Frugal Fun 4 Boys. If you click on the link you can follow the instructions to make your own - I simply used a collection of layered circles, adding in some Whisper White and Granny Apple Green for more colour variety. This is great for indoor or outdoor use, so I'm sure will be added to the toybox supplies. This is my tester in action, declaring it to be too easy - I think he needs to move further away so that it's more of a challenge!

I hope you liked my collection of fun party ideas, that in fact require very little in the way of supplies to make. I have another Nerf-themed birthday card to share, which is the one I have made for Ben's birthday, but will save that for another time!

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. 

For now, why not continue the blog hop for more creative party ideas? Do check out them rest of the Stampin’ Creative team to see what celebrations they have been preparing for. To carry on with the hop click on the names in the list below:

Enjoy the rest of your day. Mine will be a busy one, with a Family Fun Day, birthday party and sleepover (thankfully not at my house!) and the final performance of The Sound of Music for my eldest singing superstar - can't wait. I'll be back tomorrow with this week's post over at The Paper Players where the celebrations continue as we are celebrating our 400th birthday! We have a very special challenge for you as a result with lots of prizes to give away too so do pop back then - you are not going to want to miss it. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£33.00)	1/2" (1.3 Cm) Circle Punch (£5.50)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blueberry Bushel A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Grapefruit Grove A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Mini Pizza Boxes (£5.50)	Happy Birthday Gorgeous Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Envelope Punch Board (£19.00)

Another busy week in the James household with little time for crafting - boohoo! I did have a great technique class earlier this week where we made cards using the 'Share What You Love' Suite and have had the opportunity to chat with lots of my lovely customers this week as they have been collecting their new catalogue orders, so it's not all bad. And today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players - yay! It's the turn of our very own queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie, to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I decided that the sketch layers lent themselves to featuring some new designer series paper and having just taken delivery of the Animal Expedition papers I had to start cutting them up for my card this week - take a look:

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

Animal Antics - My card today contains very little stamping - it really is all about the paper. Oh and how I love designer series paper! I used two different designs from the Animal Expedition DSP on my card: a background panel featuring a selection of cute animals, including the animals to be found in the co-ordinating 'Animal Outing' stamp set along with a few extras too, including crocodiles and a sloth. For my circle element, I used one of the other paper designs featuring larger versions of the same animals and cut out a sloth with a circle framelit, allowing the fussy cut edges to overhang the border of my mount - isn't he just the cutest?

Wild About ... My Everyday Label - The only stamped element on my card is the sentiment. I punched this out using my Everyday label punch by feeding the cardstock into the punch from the back in order to create the longer rectangle, then snipped off the circular elements top and bottom in order to create a uniform shape that was easier to mount. 

A Bright Colour Combo - I chose to use Lemon Lime Twist for my card base and label, to provide a bright contrast to my busy patterned paper. I mounted all of my panels on Rich Razzleberry, pulling the colour from the little purple bird that is chatting to the sloth. I also added a thin border of Old Olive to frame my sloth. Feel free to save this colour combination for your future projects:

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:

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. We have the last bits of the kitchen to pack away before major building work starts tomorrow on the new one, along with another school project - last week it was Eid cards, this time a map of the Tour de France route - to assist in the completion of. Thank heavens for Stampin' Up! and a ready stash of onhand craft supplies! I'm hoping to get some crafting done this week in between making copious cups of builders tea so will be back soon with more projects sharing some new makes.

Either way, you are definitely going to want to pop by next Sunday for the next Paper Players challenge; we will be celebrating our 400th anniversary and have a ton of fun in store for you! Until next time, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Animal Outing Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Everyday Label Punch (£17.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Lemon Lime Twist A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£33.00)

Hello everyone! Did you miss me? My extended blogging break wasn't anticipated. I have had a few big things on of late: a girly weekend, a thirteenth birthday to prepare for and celebrate and I was performing in Joseph and his Technicolour Dreamcoat along with the youngest of my James Juniors on Friday evening. Add to that a persistent knee injury from running that finally resulted in me needing an extended course of physiotherapy to put right, along with a spell of single parenting and well, as you can probably tell, family and school life has somewhat got in the way! I still held a couple of wonderful launch parties to welcome the arrival of the new catalogue, my class schedule is uninterrupted and I have been finalising the details for my next 2 retreats (I will blog these another time but meanwhile you can read all about them here) but blogging has had to take something of a back seat.

However, today is Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! I'm a little late but here nevertheless! It's the turn of the marvellous Jaydee to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Thank heavens this week was clean and simple - although I must confess I had a couple of aborted attempts in order to achieve today's card - not enough time spent in my craft room, methinks! I eventually settled on a bright and colourful thank you card  - take a look:

I decided to go with a thank you card (we always need those, right?!) and some bright and colourful banners courtesy of the 'Pick a Pennant' stamp set and this week's challenge colours over at Just Add Ink featuring amongst others the new vibrant Granny Apple Green - love it! Now I know the challenge is 'clean and simple - birds' and there's only one feathered friend present amongst all those banners, but he's there and so I'm hoping that counts! I stamped my banners directly onto my one layer card, stamping the backgrounds off once to better highlight the patterns, whilst fussy cutting my bird and bows as I'm still waiting for my framelits to arrive.

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. Today's card really is clean and simple - stamps, ink and paper: the 3 things Stampin' Up! do best!

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

I can't wait to see your clean and simple creations and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back as soon as I can with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Pick A Pennant Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Lemon Lime Twist Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

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 you to work with - I used the sketch over at CAS(E) This Sketch and the colour palette at TGIF Challenges as the basis for my card too:

I chose my theme for this challenge ages ago but knew as soon as I received the set 'Animal Outing' in my bag at Onstage that it would have to be my set of choice for my card today - take a look:

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

Animal Antics - I didn't think it was possible for a rhino to look cute, but the chap on my card today with his birdie friend is definitely a cutie to me! Along with a koala-carrying kangaroo, a giraffe and a frog, this pair make up the collection of animals in the 'Animal Outing' stamp set, which forms part of the Animal Expedition suite - a bundle of animal themed stamps and framelits with a range of sentiments that make this set work for a variety of of occasions: thank you, new baby, friend, birthday, anniversary and more. There are also co-ordinating papers, leaf ribbon and wooden frames elements - this is a set that I'm sure I'm going to get lots more use out of in the coming months so watch this space for more projects! I stamped my cute pair onto a stitched circle and coloured them with my Stampin' Blends.

Layered Leaves - I layered my stitched circle onto a rectangle of Old Olive cardstock, embossed with the Lovely Leaves embossing folder - this is a firm favourite of mine, it adds great detail and texture and I really like the way the random leaf pattern. There is just enough detail to add interest behind the image whilst still retaining an overall CAS feel to my card.

A New Trio - My embellishments are minimal, in fact just some Night of Navy baker's twine, but I did want to point out something that you might have missed both on my card and in the new catalogue: I rounded the corners on my embossed panel, as per the sketch, using the new Detailed Trio Punch. Found on page 211 of the new catalogue, this punch rounds corners, creates an oval-shaped eyelet and a pretty trio of petals that will add a subtle detail to your layers. Very useful!

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:

I can't wait to see how you interpret this week's theme and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Detailed Trio Punch (£19.00)	Layered Leaves Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Animal Outing Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Night Of Navy Medium Baker's Twine (£2.75)

It's half term here so I'm feeling stretched again this week, hence no blog post yesterday. I was also sending out my new annual catalogues to everyone who has ordered from me in the last 6 months so that they will be with you in time for when the catalogue goes live on Friday - can't wait! If you haven't ordered from me in the last 6 months and don't already have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator but would like to receive a catalogue, then send me your details to joanne@thecraftyowl.co.uk and I will arrange to post one out to you.

Today I'm sharing one of my favourite cards made with some of the products in the fabulous Share What You Love Suite that has been on early release this month - take a look:

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

Lovely Floral - Dynamic Indeed - You all know how much I love designer series paper and the papers in this suite are no exception, however for today's card I wanted to showcase the fabulous Lovely Floral Textured Impressions Embossing Folder and needed it to take centre stage, without a paper pattern to distract from it. The embossed detail is just gorgeous - I think this folder may move into my top 3! Whether on its own or tucked behind some additional layers as on my card today, it makes a card all on its own. I think it would make a fabulous design for wedding stationery too and so easy to mass produce.

Embellish With Love - I also used a number of the accessories from the Share What You Love Embellishment Kit: the label, twine and metallic rose brought my card together really quickly. Add some of the velvet ribbon, some coloured pearls and a sliver of pearl doily and it steps up the embossing folder to make for a quick card with lots of interest and detail.

A Beautiful Day - The only stamping is the simple layered floral and sentiment on my diecut piece - I stamped my petals in two different strengths by stamping off the outer petals first for added interest.

You have just one more day to take advantage of the Share What You Love Bundles, including free products and the exclusive 'Statement of My Heart' stamp set, before these items can be purchased individually in the new annual catalogue. This suite will also feature in one of my Monthly Product Technique Clasess in June - check out the details on my Facebook page or contact me if you would like to know more.

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:

Gotta Have It All Bundle (£118.75)	Lovely Floral Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.25)	Share What You Love Embellishment Kit (£10.25)	Love What You Do Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Rich Razzleberry 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Velvet Ribbon (£7.50)
Pearlized Doilies (£4.25)	Share What You Love Artisan Pearls (£5.50)

Happy Memorial Day to all my US readers! Today has been a Bank Holiday here in the UK too and despite the severe flash flooding of yesterday evening (I haven't sen rain like it!!), today the sun managed to come out again and this afternoon was warm once more, so I've been otherwise occupied today. I've just time for a quick share of some humorous 3"x3" customer thank you cards that I made recently using up some of my Tutti-Frutti designer series papers and a punny sentiment from Beautiful Bouquet:

I wasn't sure how I was going to use that banana patterned paper then suddenly thought of this sentiment from Beautiful Bouquet and thought  - well, why not?! I'm not sure I would thank someone with a bunch of bananas as opposed to a bunch of flowers, but it made me giggle - maybe I'll have to give it a try! 

Here's a selection of my cards together:

They all fit perfectly into a 3"x3" envelope and are just the right size for adding to the bagged orders for my face-to-face customers.

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Tutti-Frutti 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Daffodil Delight 1/4" Double-Stitched Ribbon (£6.25)	1-3/8" (3.5 Cm) Scallop Circle Punch (£14.50)	1-1/2" (3.8 Cm) Circle Punch (£14.50)
Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my awesome friend LeAnne to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

I struggled a little with my card this week; I think too much time spent on admin and not enough crafting, coupled with new catalogue syndrome (so many new things to play with and a ton of things on their way out, sometimes it's hard to know where to start!) left me feeling a little stuck for inspiration. Eventually I decided to go pink and have a play with my stamps and papers from the new Garden Impressions Suite - take a look:

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

Garden Impressions - The new Garden Impressions Suite is a collection of papers and images inspired by Impressionist art. The abstract florals and paper patterns are reminiscent of Monet's fabulous flowers and garden at Giverny, with broad brushstrokes and bold use of colour. I know this is going to be one of my favourite sets in the new catalogue.

Abstract Flowers - Having chosen the pink floral paper, I set about creating a single stamped abstract flower on a layered circle, stamping off the first layer and stamping layers two and three at full strength. These stamps are super-easy to line up and I just love the loose abstract effect. 

A Pink Pair - I used a combination of white and the two pinks in the designer series paper, melon Mambo and Powder Pink, as the colours for my card today - here they are if you would like to save them for your future inspiration:

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. 

I'm still not sure about this card - I added the ribbon as I felt it needed a little something, but I don't know if it works? Maybe it's just too pink?! I do love that sentiment though.

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

I can't wait to see what you create with this week's sketch and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend - we have a Bank Holiday here in the UK so are looking forward to an extra day and hopefully some BBQ weather too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Abstract Impressions Photopolymer Stamp Set (£24.00)	Garden Impressions 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Layering Circle Framelits Dies (£32.00)	Petals & More Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Powder Pink 3/8" Shimmer Ribbon (£6.25)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses the sketch over at As You See It that I also created with the Global Design Project theme this week in mind:

I was intrigued by the sketch at AYSI and thought I'd go one step further than the lovely LeAnne's card and not only use up some of my retiring DSP, but use it to create a kind of relief pattern that added interest to my main image - take a look:

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

Petal Garden - I had some sheets of Petal Garden DSP left over and most of them had a single stem image like the one on my card. I thought this sketch would be an alternative way to add interest to the basic paper pattern by adding dimensional panels in the same design. I really like the finished effect - although it did challenge my mathematical skills to ensure that all of the pieces were the correct size and correctly spaced, whilst the image remained aligned. For a card with very little stamping, the mosaic element was rather time-consuming - a good thing that I like jigsaws!

A Note For You - This card is all about the paper, so a small sentiment was the order of the day. I chose the simple 'For You' from the Graceful Garden stamp set, masking each word so that they would sit one on top of the other and fit into my 3/4" punched circle. I added a little of the new velvet ribbon beneath it.

When Is A Scalloped Circle Not A Scalloped Circle? - My sentiment needed a border so that it didn't get lost on my card, but I didn't have anything small enough to fit. Then I remembered a trick I have used on a previous card - I used the outer framelit of the wreath in the Santa's Sleigh Thinlits, circled below:

A clever trick! It's always worth checking your framelits to see if they can be used for purposes other than those intended :-)

I needed a 'just because' card and this one fits the bill nicely; it's always good to have a few of this type of card on hand. 

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'm off to watch the cricket this afternoon so hoping that the sun continues to shine and it's a little less windy than last week! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Petal Garden Designer Series Paper Stack (£9.00)	Graceful Garden Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£17.00)	Rich Razzleberry A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Brights Enamel Shapes (£6.19)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Rich Razzlebberry Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Santa's Sleigh Dies Thinlits (£27.00)	3/4" (1.9 Cm) Circle Punch (£11.50)	Rich Razzleberry 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Velvet Ribbon (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Just Add Ink where they are asking us to embrace the eclipse technique. I also used the sketch over at Fusion for my layout and it is perfect for the numbers and letters challenge over at Stamps Ink Paper too:

Firstly, a shout out to the lovely team over at Just Add Ink for choosing this card as the winner for challenge 407 - what an honour and I'm thrilled you liked my delicately different take on the Love What You Do stamp set. I was unable to play along with last week's colour challenge, but was keen to have another go at the eclipse technique this week with a birthday card for a discerning teenager - take a look:

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

A Sneak Peak At Hand Delivered - I decided to give you a 'sneak peak' of a new stamp set today that is actually one of the exclusive hostess sets from the new Stampin' Up! annual catalogue. A fun set that has a selection of items being carried by a young lady, everything from balloons to cakes to message boards, with a variety of different skirt designs and sentiments that offer a ton of creative combinations for lots of different occasions. Best of all, it's photopolymer too, so aligning the pieces is super easy - bonus!

I think this will be one of my favourite hostess sets in the catalogue - I have so many cards in the pipeline for this one, you are definitely going to want to host a party so that you can get your hands on it too. It's worth pointing out I did make a slight modification to my stamped image on this card, in that in order to fully accommodate my numbers within the bouquet of balloons, I added a couple of extra balloons to left and right - this really wasn't tricky though, I simply masked the original image and then stamped again slightly offset on each side (the uppermost green and orange balloons on my card).  

Last Chance For Large Numbers - The eclipse technique is where a word or some element of design is 'hidden' within the broader design and built up in layers so that it stands out in relief and is therefore visible as part of the overall card. I made an eclipse card previously using my Large Letters Framelits - you can see that card here - so today decided to go with the Large Numbers Framelits as I needed a card for a friend of my daughter who becomes a teenager this week. Such a milestone birthday is worthy of a number, so I decided to 'hide' mine in the collection of balloons being carried to the birthday girl, stepped up on three layers of Berry Burst cardstock.

Oh how I will miss these numbers! I can't quite believe they are retiring and they will most definitely be a 'keeper' in my collection. Incredibly, they are still available but be warned - you only have until the end of the month to add them to your crafting arsenal if you would like them; one things for sure, they are a purchase you won't regret and will get loads of use from them. 

Picture Perfect Palette - I used the colours in the Picture Perfect DSP stack that featured in my vertical border as the palette for my card and simply coloured my image with my Stampin' Write Markers, adding a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella to my balloons. Here is the colour swatch if you would like to save it for your future project inspiration:

Lastly, I finished the inside of my card with this sentiment from the Cake Soiree stamp set:

So what do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Also, be sure to check out the Just Add Ink designers and gallery for lots more inspiration with the eclipse technique.

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:

Hand Delivered Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Large Numbers Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Picture Perfect Party 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£9.00)	Berry Burst A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£99.00)	2017-2019 In Color Stampin' Write Markers (£13.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.25)

Good morning and happy Monday everyone! I am up and about and blogging nice and early today as I have a busy day and evening so need to be organised! Today I'm sharing a card using this week's colour challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches that would also be perfect for our current challenge over at The Paper Players too:

As I had the 'Remarkable You' stamp set out on my desk for the second of my cards yesterday, it struck me that the above colour combo was perfect for those lovely arum lilies so I set about making today's card - take a look:

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

Making 'White Space' Blue - One of the principles of clean and simple design is to have plenty of 'white space' visible on your card. White space doesn't have to be white in colour though; in order for my design to work today, I wanted my white lilies to stand out and what better way than to place them against a bright blue Pacific Point coloured background? The blue plays a central role on my card with the other two colours adding just the merest hint of colour, whilst still allowing my card to feel CAS. 

Clean and Simple Paper Piecing - I stamped my lilies directly onto my card base and again onto Whisper White cardstock. I then fussy cut my white lilies, and after colouring the stems in Pear Pizzazz and adding some So Saffron highlights to my blooms with a blender pen, I paper-pieced them in place onto my card base. This is a great way to get all of the detail of the sketch-like outline whilst also ensuring the flowers stood out adequately against the blue background. A simple white embossed sentiment finishes the front of my card.

Words of Sympathy - These lilies make a beautiful sympathy card; one of my go-to sentiment sets for this type of card is 'Flourishing Phrases' -  this set has some wonderful and thoughtful sentiments, and no more so than for those sometimes tricky cards where words are never really enough. Here's the inside of my card - I love how the words fit with the shape of the flowers too:

I always find sympathy cards difficult to make to order so like to have a few on standby for when the need arises. I particularly like to use colour on my sympathy cards too, so this one definitely ticks all the boxes for me and will head to my card box for future use.

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:

Remarkable You Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£23.00)	Flourishing Phrases Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£33.00)	Pacific Point A4 Cardstock (£7.25)	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)	Pear Pizzazz Classic Stampin' Pad (£6.00)
Blender Pens (£10.75)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Versamark Pad (£7.75)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.50)