Yes - it is officially the hottest day of the year here in the UK with record breaking temperatures expected and I have a Christmas card to share with you! Well, with all of the 'Christmas in July' challenges around, it would be rude not to, right?! I'm playing along with the following challenges with today's clean and simple card:

AAA Cards have a CAS 'anything goes' challenge with an option of Christmas Pets in July and Less Is More want us to use traditional Christmas colours. So I paired my 'go to' traditional colours of red, green and gold (here found in a snippet of retired Perfectly Plaid DSP from my scrap box) with my 'choose two' of fur and stitching over at Just Add Ink and reached for my Scottie dog punch to create a sweet, furry bundle all dressed up for Christmas in his tartan bow - take a look:

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

My stitching is courtesy of my Stitched with Whimsy dies, which frame my cute canine without adding extra layers and on today's card my 'white space' is red, as I wanted to use white velvet paper for my dog, which gives him a lovely 'furry' texture too, although this is quite difficult to see in the photographs:

I added a gold heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Christmas Scottie' stamp set to the front of my card, and completed my greeting with another from the same set on the inside:

I know Scottie dogs are traditionally black in colour, but my card today will be heading to a friend of mine who loves West Highland White Terriers, or 'Westies' as they are affectionately known. This looks just like her pooch - who at Christmas will undoubtedly be dressed in his finest plaid bow too! 

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 the rest of your day; it's early evening here and there are no signs of things cooling down. I think we are in for a sticky night; it could be worse though - at least I'm not wearing a furry coat like the Westie on my card! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS SCOTTIE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£35.00)

SNOWY WHITE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) VELVET SHEETS (£4.75)

CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

STITCHED WITH WHIMSY DIES (£27.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann to host this week and she has a fun Clean and Simple challenge for us to work with as we celebrate another milestone with our 600th challenge:

Cards for kids - what fun! I used Karren's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week which was perfect to highlight my ballet dancing hippo - take a look:

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

I couldn't resist another outing with my 'Hippest Hippos' Sale-A-Bration stamp set and co-ordinating Hippo Dies, this time I decided to feature the sweet ballet dancing hippo. My colours were taken from the palette over at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week. This is my first foray into the world of coloured hippos - I usually stick with the grey kind! I stamped, coloured and diecut one, backed with a couple of rectangles of DSP (these are from retired collections but I've included the links to the current equivalents below). I also gave my hippo a flower in her 'hair' and added a liberal does of clear Wink of Stella to her tutu and ballet shoes:

I finished with a birthday sentiment from a retired set in a co-ordinating font and another coloured hippo inside my card:

And that's all there is to it! Remember this is clean and simple week - so your card should:

• Have minimal layers and embellishments
• Have plenty of open, or "white" space
• Be simple and uncluttered

I think my blue hippo fits the bill - and is a fitting way to celebrate our 600th challenge too! 

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 keeping out of the sun, enjoying a BBQ lunch and enjoying the glorious weather we are having here at the moment. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

HIPPEST HIPPOS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	HIPPO DIES (£0.00)	ORCHID OASIS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)
ORCHID OASIS STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BRIGHTS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	SUBTLES 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	2022-2024 IN COLOR MATTE DECORATIVE DOTS (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a colour challenge, with this week's colour palette chosen by me:

I loved the sky in the inspiration photo, so thought I would try and recreate it on a couple of Christmas cards. I grabbed my ink pads and blending brushes, along with some new embossing folders and this is what I came up with - take a look:

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

Charming Landscapes - Both of today's cards feature a panel embossed with each of the new Charming Landscapes embossing folders. These folders are great for adding embossed background layers to your cards, but I wanted to pair them with a bold, blended sky and make them the main feature. One includes a mountain scene, the other a village scene - I couldn't decided which one to use so having started with the village scene, I decided to create a second one using the mountain scene too:

Blended Sky - I used all four of the challenge colours to create my blended sky, starting with the lightest colour pink then progressing to the darkest blues. To pick out the snowy/starry details of the embossing across the sky, I them too a dry aquapainter and painted each of the embossed elements with some (retired) Frost White shimmer paint; if you don't have any of this, you could use a white craft re-inker or even the new pearlised enamel effects on page 59 of the seasonal catalogue. This was a time-consuming process, but so worth it to pick out the detail. I also flicked the sky with my clear Wink of Stella pen for a subtle extra sparkle:

Aren't these skies just so pretty?

Masking Magic - In order to keep my blended colour to the sky portion of my scene only, I created masks for each embossing folder, by running it through my Big Shot with some acetate window sheet and using a scissors to cut around the mountains/houses. I attached each to my white embossed cardstock and held in place before adding my ink colours, then removed when complete. These can be easily cleaned and re-used, which is a good job; I like these cards so much I can't wait to create more using different colour combinations. I added a simple sentiment from the 'Christmas To Remember' stamp set and another to the inside of my card to finish. Here are both of my cards together - which one do you prefer?

Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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

And the second one:

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 was a little concerned that the team wouldn't take to my choice of colours this week, but I can honestly say they've outdone themselves - you should definitely check out their cards this week. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHARMING LANDSCAPES EMBOSSING FOLDERS (£7.50)	CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£22.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	ORCHID OASIS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.75)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I used the sketch layout over at TGIF Challenges and went across the top row of our board with Clean And Simple (CAS), Bright Colours and Butterfly - take a look:

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

I still had the Butterfly Kisses papers, the Build A Butterfly Dies and 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set out on my desk having made this card so thought I would change things up in terms of colour scheme with a pop of bright blue Starry Sky cardstock for my card base, a larger-than-life sentiment and a super-bright Parakeet Party butterfly:

I also added a couple of (retired) in colour flower embellishments to pick up the Fresh Freesia colour. Easy as that!

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

You can see all of my Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; I am enjoying the slightly cooler weather today and making the most of it before things really hot up from tomorrow. I'll be back tomorrow with another pair of projects for our new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

BUILD A BUTTERFLY DIES (£29.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	BUTTERFLY KISSES 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	SIMPLY FABULOUS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	STARRY SKY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Patricia has asked us to create something with the layout below. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I decided to go for a clean and simple birthday card with a pop of bright colour courtesy of the Butterfly Kisses designer paper - take a look:

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

I added a piece of Butterfly Kisses designer paper to my card base, then overlaid the front section with a piece of Basic White cardstock that I cut with one of my Basic Borders Dies to give it the curve of the sketch. To this I added a butterfly cut with one of the Build A  Butterfly Dies and a sentiment from the 'Simply Fabulous' stamp set. I did add my sentiment to the lower portion of my card rather than where it was suggested on the sketch as I wanted it to stand out better and not get lost in the pattern of the paper. I also added a greeting and small decoration from the same stamp set to the inside of my card: 

I chose two of the colours that feature in the paper for my sentiment and butterfly respectively to give the whole thing a sense of cohesiveness. One of those cards that is simple and yet so effective I think:

A great sketch too with loads of creative possibilities. Looking forward to see what's in the gallery this week!

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

You can see all of my '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:

BUILD A BUTTERFLY DIES (£29.00)

BUTTERFLY KISSES 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

FRESH FREESIA A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

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

I haven't had much time to play beyond my design commitments lately, but can never resist a good sketch so I decided to combine this week's trio of colours with the fabulous sketch over at Just Add Ink this week (hello ladies!). I resisted the urge to go floral and inspired by the glorious weather we are having in the UK at the moment cast my mind back to memories of childhood holidays and created a summery card with some new (free!) dies - take a look:

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

Tree Lot Dies - Both the caravan and the trees on today's card were cut using the Tree Lot Dies - one of a number of products that can be yours FREE during the current Sale-A-Bration promotion. Designed to co-ordinate with the 'Trees For Sale' stamp set in the new July-December mini catalogue, a number of the dies work well on their own too - and not just for Christmas cards either. The Tree Lot Dies can be yours free with an order of £90 or more - why not buy the co-ordinating stamp set as a starting point?

Get Creative With Colour - LeAnne's colour palette this week is an interesting one; the inclusion of white alongside two colours might at first glance seem limiting, but the are lots of ways to get creative with these colours and create interest. I used a piece of Tahitian Tide in-colour designer paper as my base - this gives both pattern and shades of colour. I also used some in-colour ombre glimmer paper for the flags on my caravan and used a neat trick to create two shades of Parakeet Party for my trees: I cut both layers of my tree from parakeet Party cardstock, then coloured each base tree all over with my dark Parakeet Party Stampin' Blends marker. This gave this piece a darker finish and allowed contrast with the detailed top layer.

Texture Tricks - In addition to variation in colour, I used texture to add interest to my card design: the caravan die has lots of embossed detailing, I layered my trees, I added some subtle blended background colour to my banner before I built my scene (I used a retired Stitched Nested Label Die for the banner itself), added some stitched diecut clouds courtesy of the Give It A Whirl Dies, the glimmer paper pennant banner, a baker's twine bow and lastly a heat-embossed sentiment, from the 'Let's Set Sail' stamp set - you can see these details more closely below:

I actually wanted a sentiment from the retired 'Glamper Greetings' set that said 'Home is where you park it' but I couldn't find my stamp set anywhere in the chaos that is my craft room - it is long overdue a thorough clean-out! 'Adventure Awaits' didn't quite suite the sketch as well, but was still an appropriate sentiment for my card, which is headed to a previous team member of mine who in a few month's time is about to embrace retirement and depart on a belated gap-year in her motor home - I'm sure many adventures await her on her travels.

So what do you think? I love this fresh colour combination - do leave me a comment below with your thoughts, I'd love you to share your views.

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 still playing catch up, but will definitely be taking some time out this afternoon to watch the men's singles final at Wimbledon; it should be a great match and I've definitely earned it - I might even treat myself to a Pimms too; well, it would be rude not to!! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TREE LOT DIES (£0.00)	LET'S SET SAIL PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	GIVE IT A WHIRL DIES (£37.00)	2022–2024 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	2022–2024 IN COLOR BAKER'S TWINE PACK (£14.00)	2022–2024 IN COLOR 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (£11.25)
TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	TAHITIAN TIDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	PARAKEET PARTY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PARAKEET PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.75)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Global Tiger Day' which is on 29th July. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I resisted the urge to use up some retired 'In The Wild' paper (which amongst other animals features tigers) and instead used frame, fur and black and broke open a new stamp set and went with a clean and simple card for Christmas - take a look:

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

Is this Christmas Scottie not the cutest?! I added a Real Red stamped grid patterned background (perfect for the challenge over at Addicted to CAS this week) and a sentiment from the Christmas Scotties stamp set to the front of my card, and used my scoreboard to add a simple scored frame border to my panel. Then I used the Scottie Dog Punch (yes, there is a punch!) to punch a dog out of (retired) black glimmer paper as I wanted to give his fur some texture and added a festive red bow (cut from retired red velvet paper) and a googly eye, then popped him onto my card using dimensionals.

I think the addition of some different textures for the punched element adds lots of interest to an otherwise clean and simple card:

I added a 'furry' themed sentiment to the inside, along with a stamped Scottie for a little extra decoration, this time with a grid-stamped bow. What a dapper chap! 

I'm not a big animal lover, but this Scottie dog has totally won me over - I think he's so cute! You will be seeing lots more of him in the coming months I'm sure. 

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

Enjoy your day; I will be aiming to catch up with the housework having been out and about on my travels in recent weeks, hopefully after a lie-in following my 1.30am alarm call to get the youngest of the James Juniors to school in time to catch his bus to the airport for his school trip to Munich. This could be a long day! I'll be back on Sunday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS SCOTTIE BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£35.00)

REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's July and Patricia is hosting this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I combined the colours with the sketch and photo inspiration over at Fusion (using metallic gold instead of the icy blue tones in the photo) and decided to create a congratulations card using the 'Happiness Abounds' bundle - take a look:

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

I decided to heat emboss my rose and some leaves from the 'Happiness Abounds' stamp set in gold onto solid colour cardstock and cut them out with the Blossoming Happiness Dies. I considered using a Navy cardbase, but eventually went with white, adding some subtle ink blending using a retired stencil and a blending brush to add a hint of extra colour to my base behind my floral cluster. I added my sentiment to a banner backed with some (retired) gold vellum and added a number of metallic gold elements (some retired gold foil diecuts, gold twine and some of the lovely gold brushed metallic dots) to give an added feel of luxury and elegance to my clean and simple card. I also added some depth to my flower and coloured leaves using my Stampin' Blends on these elements - you can see that better on the photo below:

If you look closely at the 'spare' roses that are on the picture at the bottom of today's post, you will see that one of the roses has been left plain and the other has been shaded with Blends - this is a good way to see the difference that adding the shading makes; I think it's worth the extra effort. Apologies if the colours on today's photos are a little off - the sun was so bright when I took them, I struggled to balance the brightness. I did also use Cherry Cobbler as opposed to Merry Merlot (more by accident that design to be fair, but that also gives my rose a brighter shade of red).

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 struggled with today's card - but I love the 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible. "Metallic Gold" can have either a shiny or a brushed finish, but we do want to be able to see that it's gold and not plain yellow. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HAPPINESS ABOUNDS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (£8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£11.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	NIGHT OF NAVY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

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

We are a green-fingered bunch in the James household, however at this time of year the only flowers are those that have a fruit or vegetable attached - strawberries, climbing beans, courgettes and tomatoes to name a few. I don't have any vegetable stamps though, but never fear - this week's challenge can include everything from greenery, houseplants flowers and everything in between! I love flowers and with so many creative options, I was spoiled for choice. I was a little short on time though, so I decided to choose a beautiful new designer paper and let it do the heavy lifting - take a look:

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

The beautiful Awash In Beauty designer paper makes a card all by itself - beautiful watercoloured blooms, with no effort! I added a diecut sentiment and a few iridescent rhinestones, and my card is complete!

I liked this card so much I used another one with the other half of the paper and changed up the sentiment for one from the 'Sending Smiles' bundle:

Check out the subtle sparkle from the rhinestones - so pretty!

I ended up liking this one the best! What about you - do you have a favourite?

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: 

AWASH IN BEAUTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	SENDING SMILES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£46.75)	AMAZING THANKS DIES (ENGLISH) (£26.00)	ART GALLERY PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	MERRY MERLOT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	IRIDESCENT RHINESTONES BASIC JEWELS (£7.00)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MERRY MERLOT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for my favourite, a sketch challenge:

Since today celebrates the launch of the new July-December mini catalogue and the start of the second Sale-A-Bration promotion of the year, I couldn't resist the opportunity to create with some new goodies! I'm not quite in the Christmas zone yet though, so decided to pair the summery colour palette over at Global Design Project #GDP349 this week and the inspiration phrase of "Fun In The Sun" over at Try Stamping On Tuesday (but not the sketch for obvious reasons) and use two of my FREE Sale-A-Bration products to create a splashy pool-inspired card featuring a trio of hip hippos - take a look:

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

Hippest Hippos - So how adorable are these hippos??! The stamp set contains 4 sentiments and a trio of hippos in a variety of poses - and the co-ordinating Hippos Dies extend the versatility of these semi-aquatic mammals further with the inclusion of a boat, bath tub and lots of accessories too. I 'dressed' my hippos in sunglasses, a snorkel and mask and cleverly adapted the ballet dancer in the set by adding an inflatable rubber ring that I made out of a retired stitched oval die to create a trio that are ready for some water-based fun.  

A Trio Of Dies - In addition to using the Sale-A-Bration Hippos Dies to cut out the hippos and their accessories, I also used the 'waves' die in the set for some partial diecutting to create the base for my stitched circle apertures that I wanted my hippos to sit in. The circles were diecut using the Stylish Shapes Dies and my panel cut using the Rectangle Stitched Dies. I like the way you can see the wave impressions beneath the die on the solid coloured cardstock, but the Tahitian Tide In-Color DSP beneath peaks through, a little like the sparkle of light on water. I added some splashes cut from this paper to my top layer, but I think they get a little lost - I think if I did them again I might use some in-color glimmer paper; what do you think?

Watercolour Pencil Wonder - I stamped my hippos directly onto Grey Granite cardstock, then added highlights and shading using my watercolour pencils, blended out with a blending pen. This is quite a neat way to use watercolour pencils and is a great way to add a little depth to your image without having to do lots of colouring. Did you know too that July is National Watercolour Month? Watercolouring can take lots of forms besides the traditional 'brush, water and paint' method. I look forward to sharing more watercolouring tips and tricks during the coming month. 

Both the 'Hippest Hippos' stamp set and the Hippo Dies can be yours FREE with a purchase of £45 (you will need two £45 purchases to get both items - they can be purchased separately). To get yours just click on the links to the online store below and place your order - you know you want to!!

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back on Sunday with my card for our new theme challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HIPPEST HIPPOS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£0.00)	HIPPO DIES (£0.00)	2022–2024 IN COLOR™ 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.25)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	WATERCOLOR PENCILS (£15.00)
PARAKEET PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	TAHITIAN TIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)