It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my wonderful and talented friend LeAnne to host this week and she has a gorgeous colour challenge for us to work with:

I fell in love with this trio of orange/yellows that LeAnne chose and whilst I was tempted to go floral, I decided instead to use the sketch inspiration over at Fusion for my layout and create a pretty sunrise and silhouette scene using the Enjoy Life stamp set - take a look:

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

A Million Dollar Stamp Set - I decided to use a combination of images from the 'Enjoy Life' stamp set on my card today. This stamp set, with its beautiful collection of silhouettes and inspirational sentiments, was designed by Connie Fitzgerald, one of Stampin' Up!'s Million Dollar Sales Achievers, as a celebration of this milestone achievement. I absolutely love this set and it was one of the first on my wishlist when the annual catalogue was launched - thank you Connie for such a great set!

Sunrise, Sunset Made Easy - I wanted to create a vertical panel with a sunrise that featured all three of the challenge colours, so I punched a 3/4" circle and masked off my sun and used a sponge brayer to build up a graduated sunrise, blending each of the colours in turn starting with the lightest colour at the top. Sponge brayers are so great for this; they make light work of the art of ink blending, and can be washed out when you're done. I also brayered the colours on the diagonal of the bottom corner of the inside panel too and added a little interior detail:

Blended Ombre Embossing - My card today is ultra-clean, with minimal layers and detail to allow my inked panel to really shine, but I'd also like to share another great tip with you; did you notice I created a blended ombre of colour on my sentiment that mimics my sunrise? Curious as to how I created it? With a Basic Black card base, I originally heat-embossed the sentiment in white, but this was too stark. I decided to use my Pumpkin Pie Blends to carefully colour the lettering and change its colour. Did you know you can use your Stampin' Blends alcohol markers in this way? This tones down the brightness of the white and adds a co-ordinating pop of colour that wouldn't have been possible with ink alone on such a dark background.

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 usually struggle with colour challenges, but this bright, monotone pallet really spoke to me - so many creative possibilities! I can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours 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: 

Enjoy Life Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Sponge Brayers (£7.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Basic Black A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)
White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

A midweek post for you before I head out on today's activities with the James Juniors! Today I'm sharing a card that is perfect (and just in time!) for the current challenge over at As You See It:

This was an easy one for me! There are lots of things that fall in and out of love with as I craft, but there is one thing that I will always be obsessed with - and that's designer series paper! I have boxes and boxes of the stuff, old and new (about 25 12"x12" storage boxes at the last count!!). I use it - but I hoard it too! One of my team jokingly shared the attached image on our team page recently saying 'I wonder if you know anyone like this?'

Of course, she knew it was perfect for me :-) I know that some of you reading this will also share my passion for patterned paper, so if you would like to see a fun project that showcases all those lovely patterns, read on! 

In my recent technique class featuring the Garden Impressions Suite, we made a never-ending card featuring the gorgeous Garden Impressions papers. This is a photo-heavy post, so that you can see each of the sides of these fun-fold cards. So first up, here is the version we made in class:

This is the front:

The card then opens from the centre to reveal the next 'side':

Followed by a third fold:

And then the final 'side', with space above the sentiment to write a personal message:

The next fold then takes you back to the beginning. Whilst the still photos show you each of the sides, they don't really highlight the mechanism; I shot a  short video of one of the ladies at my class demonstrating how hers worked which will give you a much better idea of why it's called a never-ending card -you can see this over on my Facebook page below:.

After the class I also made another one using the same papers in an alternative colourway, and decorated it with some of the diecut pieces from the Springtime Impressions thinlits dies set - take a look:

The basic mechanism for these cards, which measure 6" x 6" finished size, is fairly straightforward; it's choosing how to decorate them and which papers to use that takes the thought - especially when your collection is as vast as mine!

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:

Abstract Impressions Photopolymer Bundle (£45.75)	Garden Impressions 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Brights 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Cardstock (£11.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)
Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

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

I decided to use this week's CAS(E) This Sketch for my layout and by complete coincidence have another card for you using the Half Full stamp set I featured last week, although this week's is decidedly more festive - take a look:

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

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas -  When I came to make my card for today's challenge, I realised I actually don't own that many overtly funny stamp sets - clearly something to be rectified another time! However the principle reason that I purchased the Half Full stamp set that I used on last week's card was for the sentiment that I used on today's card - what a fun play on words! Along with some fussy cut holly it makes for the perfect festive tipple.

Humour on the Inside - The real humour in this set comes when this sentiment on the front of the card is combined with the one I used on the inside. I actually made two of these cards at the same time (I wanted to make a dent in my Christmas card stash!) which made it easy to photograph both the inside and outside at the same time to get the full effect:

I just love that - makes me chuckle very time I read it! So perfect for my wine-loving besties, who I know will appreciate the sentiment too.

Under The Mistletoe Plaid - I wanted to add some festive colour to my card and settled on this warming plaid from the Under The Mistletoe designer series paper set. The warm colours were just what I was looking for to go with my glass of wine - here's the colour combination if you would like to save it for a future project:

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:

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 for a day at the waterpark with a bunch of 11 year old boys to begin the birthday celebrations of the youngest of the James Juniors. To be followed by a BBQ, football and Nerf wars, so a fairly full-on day - wish me luck!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Half Full Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Under The Mistletoe Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)	Pool Party Light Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

This is my second post today - read all about Bonus Days in my previous post here. As promised, this post has a little more detail about the fabulous new  exclusive limited time stamp set and framelits bundle called the Blended Seasons Bundle that has also been released to customers today, along with a new assortment of Watercolour Pencils. Whilst the pencils will be available in a future catalogue, the Blended Seasons stamp set and Stitched Seasons framelits will not - available now until 31 August or whilst stocks last, you have just one month to get your hands on this exclusive bundle! Here's a close up of the images and framelits in more detail:

We haven't had a set like this since Thoughtful Branches (one of my all-time favourites!) and I'm sure this one will be equally popular, so don't delay in placing your order - I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. If you order the bundle, you will earn yourself a Bonus Days coupon to use in September too - an added bonus indeed! Don't forget if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code K6VBCUXK to receive a free thank you gift from me too! 

Here are some photos from Stampin' Up! that really demonstrate the versatility of this fabulous set:

This really is a set suitable for every season! One of the things I love the most is the framelits, that add a stitched detail to both the label and the negative space. This is something that I've featured on my card today, that features the gorgeous palette of greens with a hint of pink over at Fab Friday currently:

I used an old sketch over at As You See It for my layout to create my aperture and layered label with the Stitched Seasons on the front of my card, and then added some of the little diecuts to embellish the front, along with a banner of the Share What you Love designer paper:

You can just see a glimpse of that fabulous floral that I then stamped and coloured on the inside, using my ink pads and a blender pen:

I really am loving this bundle and can't wait to create more with it this month. If you have any questions on any of the above, then please do get in touch - I am always happy to help!

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: 

Blended Seasons Clear-Mount Bundle (£60.00)	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Mint Macaron A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Tranquil Tide Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Tranquil Tide A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Powder Pink Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Silver Metallic Thread (£3.25)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)
Share What You Love Specialty Designer Series Paper (£25.00)	Banner Triple Punch (£22.00)

It's the first of August and as the recruitment and designer series paper promotions end, I have news of two more fabulous specials for you for the month of August!

First things first: BONUS DAYS ARE BACK! Do you remember this promotion from last year? It was so successful, Stampin' Up! have decided to repeat it this year.

For every £45.00 you spend between 1 August and 31 August (before delivery), you’ll get a £4.50 Bonus Days coupon that you can use between 1 and 30 September. Our new annual catalogue has been out for a couple of months now, so I'm sure you will still have some items on your wish list; this is a great opportunity to shop from it and make savings when you shop again in September with your coupons! You could even use your coupons to shop from the new Autumn-Winter catalogue, which launches on 5 September - perfect timing!

There are some details in terms of small print that you need to take note of, as follows: 

• Promotion period: 1–31 August 2018
• Redemption period: 1–30 September 2018
• An email address is required to participate in this promotion; Bonus Days coupon codes can only be delivered via email.
• It is strongly recommended that you both save emails containing their Bonus Days coupon codes AND write down the coupon codes in a safe place. Codes cannot be resent if the email is lost, and lost codes cannot be recovered.
• Bonus Days coupon codes can be redeemed for any product, excluding Starter Kits.
• There is no limit to the number of coupons you can receive per order or throughout the duration of the promotion.
• There is no limit on the number of coupons you can use on an order during redemption.

As a demonstrator I am able to pre-order items from the new Autumn-Winter catalogue from today and I am looking forward to collecting some bonus days coupons to make a further dent on my own wishlist in September! 

Today also sees the release of an exclusive limited time stamp set and framelits bundle called the Blended Seasons Bundle and a new set of Waterpencil colours. Whilst the pencils will be available in a future catalogue, the stamp set and framelits will not - available now until 31 August or whilst stocks last, you have just one month to get your hands on this set and its co-ordinating framelits too! Here's a close up of the images and framelits in more detail:

We haven't had a set like this since Thoughtful Branches (one of my all-time favourites!) and I'm sure this one will be equally popular, so don't delay in placing your order - I wouldn't want you to be disappointed. If you order the bundle, you will earn yourself a Bonus Days coupon to use in September too - an added bonus indeed! Don't forget if you are placing an order online to also include this month's hostess code K6VBCUXK to receive a free thank you gift from me too! 

For more information on this set, please see today's second post here, which also includes a card made using this gorgeous bundle.

If you have any questions on any of the above, then please do get in touch - I am always happy to help!

Back shortly with my second post of the day; until then, happy shopping!

Blended Seasons Clear-Mount Bundle (£60.00)

Watercolor Pencils Assortment 2 (£11.75)

Blended Seasons Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£36.00)

Stitched Seasons Framelits Dies (£31.00)

Good morning everyone! Just popping by today to remind you that both of this month's fabulous offers will end today (10.55pm GMT).

Firstly this month's amazing recruitment offer, the best we've had for a while:

Yes - in addition to your standard £130 of products of your choice you can receive a whole family of ink pads, absolutely FREE! You can choose from any of the collections below (please note the 2017-20 in-colour collection will only be available as a bundle as part of this promotion):

If you are a customer who has a long wish list, or are building your collection of Stampin' Up! inks, this is a great opportunity to add to your collection whilst benefiting from an overall saving of £94 (£31 free product of your choice and £63 ink pad collection) - and free shipping - along with an ongoing discount on the Stampin' Up! products that you love. Equally if you are thinking of starting your own Stampin' Up! business, this offer would enable you to get a fantastic bundle of products to get you off to a flying start. This offer has been incredibly popular, and no wonder - it really is a great deal.

There has never been a better time to join Stampin' Up!: we are at the beginning of a new quarter, so you will have a full 6 months before you need to meet your first quarterly minimum. Every sale from the time you join until the end of December counts towards it, so the sooner you join the sooner you will be earning. The run up to Christmas is a great time to build a business if you're looking to earn or boost your income doing something that you love. I am always keen to hear from people thinking about joining my team and am delighted to have welcomed new members already this month - why not give me a call to discuss what it could mean for you? Alternatively if you've made up your mind already and want to start choosing your kit, click here to complete the online form. There is also the prospect of joining my team and I for Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event in Birmingham in November, which promises to be an even more fantastic event than usual since we will be celebrating our Stampin' Up! 30th anniversary - this is a demonstrator-only event that you are not going to want to miss! 

As if the recruitment offer alone wasn't enough, there is also a fabulous customer offer on during July where for every 3 packs of designer series paper you buy from the following selection, you can choose another one absolutely FREE! The papers included in the promotion are listed below:

Whilst there really is no substitute for seeing the papers up close in order to truly appreciate how beautiful they are, rather than show you a collection of stills, it's worth watching this short video from the lovely people at the Stampin' Up! home office who go through each of the papers above and show a full sheet of each pattern:

This offer is a great opportunity to stock up on some of the new papers and decide which ones you love. I have taken advantage and expanded my collection of designer paper - well, you know how much I love it!

That's all for now; I will be back tomorrow with news of an exclusive time-limited bundle that will be available during August and news of the return of Bonus Days too, so come back the to find out more! Until then, happy stampin'!

Another busy week in the James household with little time for crafting - too busy having holiday fun with the Juniors and putting everything back into my fabulous new kitchen which is pretty much finished at last! I Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players - yay! It's the turn of my awesome friend Claire to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

A card with a tag - I haven't made one of those in a while! I decided that the sketch layers lent themselves to a card using the Half Full stamp set which I haven't yet used for a non-Christmas card, along with a little DSP too - take a look:

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

Half Full And An Old Faithful - My starting point for today's card was the tag and I decided to use the ready-to-stamp one that comes with the half Full stamp set. This makes the tag element really easy to create, with the sentiment, decoration and border all laid out. Not only that, it perfectly co-ordinates with one of my most-used punches, the fabulous Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, which makes tag creation a breeze. I fussy-cut the bunch of grapes for extra interest and also used the single glass and bottle stamps to create a tone-on-tone background panel and to decorate the inside of my card and the envelope, whilst I stamped the row of glasses in white kraft ink to create a contrasting border too. I am quite partial to a glass of red (or white!) so this set is perfect for cards for my wine-loving friends and also to quickly dress-up a bottle to say thank you to a party hostess, for example.

Tranquil Textures Colour Combo - I often use colour combinations straight from Stampin' Up!'s designer series papers as the basis for my cards and today as I looked for something with a non-descript pattern that would compliment my various stamped layers and tag I decided upon this Night of Navy, Whisper White and Fresh Fig combination from the Tranquil Textures pack. Here is the colour combo for you to save should you wish to use it as inspiration for your future projects too:

Whilst this pack is designed to co-ordinate with the Tranquil Textures Suite, which has an under-the-sea theme, I wasn't constrained by this. The pack has lots of interesting textured designs that can be used in many other ways too. This is my 'twist' for the challenge over at Just Add Ink this week, although it is a little more tenuous than some of those that the JAI design team have come up with - check them out to see which items they have used in a different way on their projects. Don't forget these papers are available for just 3 more days as part of the current 'buy 3, get 1 free' DSP offer that is running this month; if you missed the details, you can read all about it here.

A Trellis Textured Border - The final element to my card was some actual texture, courtesy of the Garden Trellis Textured Impressions Embossing Folder on the navy border panel. It creates just enough interest to differentiate and separate the layers, without detracting from the stamped images.

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:

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 will be spending mine in London at the Vitality Hockey Women's World Cup with the rest of the James family, as we have tickets to watch the India v USA and England v Ireland matches that are taking place this afternoon. I'm hoping we will escape the thunderstorms and it will stay dry for us and the players, although I'm sure they will appreciate the slightly cooler temps that we have been having this week.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Half Full Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Tranquil Textures Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Garden Trellis Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£7.00)	Scalloped Tag Topper Punch (£22.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Fresh Fig 1/8" Sheer Ribbon (£5.50)	Night Of Navy Medium Baker's Twine (£2.75)	Blender Pens (£11.25)	Fresh Fig Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Fresh Fig A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Uninked Stampin’ Craft Pad & Whisper White Refill (£8.75)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our wonderful leader Nance to host this week and she has a clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

Remember in addition to the theme of "negative space", this week is a Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenge!  What do we mean by CAS?

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Simple and uncluttered

Now I love to use negative space on a card - if you browse my blog you will find tons of examples. Today though I have a card that is super quick and easy to recreate using a thinlit I haven't used before, that also showcases a glimpse of one of the fabulous designer series papers that is on offer as part of this month's 'buy 3, get 1 free' paper promotion - take a look:

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

Negative Space - I am a big fan of using dies to create 'negative space' as I think it creates real interest on a clean and simple card. Today I chose to use the largest die in my Support Ribbon Framelits. This die cuts a ribbon shape and in order to retain this shape when you are using the negative, you need to remember to retain and add in the extra piece that forms the centre of the loop. This will be loose once you've made your diecut - the easiest way to ensure you get it in the right place is to place the positive diecut back into the gap to align the centre piece and stick it in place, before the removing the positive diecut once more. 

Impressionist Pinks - I decided to add interest to my ribbon by using designer series paper in my negative space, and chose this gorgeous impressionist pattern of pinks from the Garden Impressions DSP set. I think this is my current favourite paper; good job it's in the 'buy 3, get 1 free' set so that I can stock up and save at the same time! Patterned paper should be used sparingly with lots of white (or in my case pink!) space surrounding it, to ensure a 'CAS' feel is retained.

Hope and Courage - I overlaid my negative space with a stacked diecut of the word 'hope' from the Sunshine Wishes thinlits set, which I felt fitted with the theme of my card. Cancer is such a vicious disease, hope is essential for those diagnosed with it. It also tied in perfectly with the stamped inside of my card (the only stamping on today's card!), courtesy of the Ribbon of Courage stamp set:

I hope this card will be uplifting for the recipient and brighten their day.

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:

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Support Ribbon Framelits Dies (£21.00)	Sunshine Wishes Thinlits Dies (£25.00)	Ribbon Of Courage Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Garden Impressions 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Powder Pink A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Melon Mambo A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)

I finally managed to get a little time in my craft room this weekend and made a card that was originally for this week's sketch challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches but also works for the challenge over at Color Throwdown and Addicted to CAS this week:

I changed the orientation of my card but kept the layout and decided to create a gender-neutral baby card - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Amazing Congratulations - The sentiment combinations from the Amazing Congratulations stamp set are perfect for this week's FMS sketch and even helped me get over my paranoia of a wonky sentiment (thanks for the challenge, girls!) I used my stamparatus to line up all three of the images that make up the main word - I love how this enables you to re-ink the same image too until you get the intensity you want; I would not be able to get such a great outline in Smoky Slate without it for sure.

A Pineapple Punch - I decided to go 'gender neutral' for my baby card - I love to have a few of these in my stash - and chose the new zingy and bright Pineapple Punch as my feature colour - it's so fresh! I used a strip of co-ordinating in-colour designer series paper along the edge and paired it with Daffodil Delight across the sentiment to get the contrast on the lettering.  

Hello Swirly Bird - I wanted something more than just the sentiment for my baby card, so decided to add a pair of proud parents in their nest courtesy of the Swirly Bird stamp set, which I haven't used in a while yet gave me just what I needed whilst keeping the clean and simple feel of my card.

I have one of my monthly technique classes this morning so will come back and edit this post with the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference later. The organised me would have written this post yesterday, but alas a jug of Pimms and the Wimbledon Men's Tennis Finals took my attention instead! 

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:

Amazing Congratulations Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Swirly Bird Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Stamparatus (£46.00)	Pineapple Punch Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pineapple Punch A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
In Color 2018–2020 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who joined in with our 400th anniversary celebration theme challenge these past two weeks - what an amazing gallery! You made it very difficult for us to choose our 'cut aboves' and the headliner this week for sure. We will be announcing the results of our random.org draw and the winners of all those amazing prizes donated by our generous sponsors on Wednesday; meanwhile, it's my turn to host this week and I have a bold and vibrant colour challenge for you to work with:

I've had the Serene Garden stamp set and Garden Scene Framelits out on my desk preparing for my next technique class, so decided to use them for my card today, which also uses this week's Global Design Project sketch for my layout:

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

A Peek of Granny Apple Green - I've been getting to grips with the new inks in my collection following the recent colour revamp by Stampin' Up! and I chose three of my new favourite bold and bright colours for my challenge this week. That said, my card today features a lot of white in order to balance these colours and keep my card feeling light and bright and not too garish. I've stamped each of the elements of my design - leaves, flowers and butterfly - in one of the challenge colours. The colour that features most is the fresh Granny Apple Green, since I stamped the leafy corner on a mat in the same shade and then used the Garden Scene Framelits to cut out the leaf sections, to reveal the tone-on-tone image below. I toyed with stamping the flowers and butterfly tone-on-tone too, but when I put it together I decided I preferred the colours on white with a little more added with a blender pen - an altogether more subtle affair.

Words of Courage - The Serene Garden stamp set is sentiment-free, so I rooted through my stamp collection and decided these words from the Ribbon of Courage stamp set fit perfectly with my layout and immediately gave me an intended recipient too, which is always nice. The swirly font fits nicely with this stamp set, although I'm sure there will be many others that work well with it too.

Polka Dots and an Embellishment Cheat - When it came to embellishing my card, I added a strip of Lovely Lipstick cardstock with a couple of notches punched out with my 1/2" circle punch to hold my pretty white polka dot tuille. I also added a trio of one of my favourite new embellishments, the glitter enamel dots, around my sentiment and yes, here's the cheat: they are actually Gorgeous Grape and Melon Mambo in colour. They tone in beautifully with the colour scheme though,so I went with it (I know my secret is safe with you!)

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 love this colour combo and know it's one I will use again; the tuille bow is a little fussy for my generally clean style, but I do love how easy it is to work with and adds a real touch of pretty to the finished card.

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 colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. Today I will be waving off the eldest of my James Juniors for a 2 week sports tour of South Africa to play hockey and netball and experience all of the tourist delights this fascinating country has to offer. As for me, I will be at home braving week 2 of the summer vacation with the youngest of the James Juniors and continuing to monitor progress on the kitchen renovation project - I know where I would rather be, for sure! I have at least managed to get a little making done over the last few days so I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Serene Garden Photopolymer Bundle (£39.50)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Ribbon Of Courage Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Lovely Lipstick A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Glitter Enamel Dots (£6.50)	Whisper White 5/8" (1.6 Cm) Polka Dot Tulle Ribbon (£7.00)
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	1/2" (1.3 Cm) Circle Punch (£5.50)