Minimalist flowers

 A very simple card for Retro Rubber's Challenge 146. In fact, embarrassingly simple! Ah well. Varied Vases is from a 2017 Stampin' Up catalogue. 

Ingredients: Stampin' Up!: card (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Black Foil), Varied Vases stamps, Varied Vases punch. 

Memento Tuxedo Black ink. 

Silver Christmas

 I  love the lacy, gossamer effect of Stampin' Up's Metallic Mesh Ribbon, and so enjoyed using it in CAS(E) this Sketch's challenge #395. I've ensured this is a 'CAS' card by keeping to silver and white - a challenge for someone who loves colour!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up card (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Silver), Beauty and Joy stamp (sentiment), dies, (Pointsettia, Painted Labels, Stitched Shapes) Quilt Top embossing folder, Metallic Mesh ribbon.

Other: Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Sunshine Colours

Hi! A very quick post so I make the deadline for Sunday Stamps Challenge SSC235: Bright and Beautiful. That new Rainbow Glimmer Paper by Stampin' Up! is glorious stuff!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card, (Whisper White, Poppy Parade, Pumpkin Pie, Rainbow Glimmer Paper), dies, (Happy Birthday thinlits, Layering Circles), adn Basket Weave embossing folder.

Hello

This card, a response to CAS(E) this Sketch's beautiful sketch #380, is for my son - who is in another country, in a city that's gone back into lockdown. There's no telling when we'll see each other again, so my daughter and I are sending him a small package full of reminders from home.
Here's the card:

Ingredients:
Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Garden Green), embossing powders (Shimmery Black, Silver), enamel dot, Stamps (Needle and Thread, Endless Birthday Wishes), Stitched Rectangle Dies, Forever Greenery DSP
Other: My Favourite Things Die-namics Basic Stiched Edges dies

Cheerful Colours

Today's card is a response to two challenges: a colour challenge for Paper Players' PP490 (Melon Mambo, Pool Party and Granny Apple Green) and a sketch challenge from Fab Friday's #189. 

I do like the 'Dot to Dot' embossing folder - very funky!

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! card, (Whisper White, Pool Party, Granny Apple Green, Melon Mambo), ink (Memento Tuxedo Black), Dot to Dot embossing folder, Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp for the sentiment, Everything is Rosy and Sending Flowers dies, Small Daisy punch, enamel dot. 

Spring Flowers

We're thinking about autumn colours down here in New Zealand, but it's still lovely to imagine spring. Retro Rubber helped me do that with their challenge #134: Spring Flowers.

I used an old favourite - Beautiful Bouquet,, from the 2017 Annual Catalogue - and a little of a new one - Ornate Frames. My mother-in-law liked the card, so that's the main thing!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card (Balmy Blue, Whisper White, Pear Pizzaz), ink, (Calypso Coral, Balmy Blue, Highland Heather), dies (Bouquet Bunch framelits, Ornate Frames dies, stamps (Beautiful Bouquet, Dressed to Impress  - sentiment), Calypso Coral ribbon.

Other - pearls/dots I don't know the origin of, sorry!

Sending Hugs

This card is a response to two challenges: CAS(E) this Sketch's #371 and CAS Colours and Sketch's #369. I'm enjoying using the Stampin' Up! downloadable images, which also raise money for charity. This sentiment is from them. The 'Hexagons' 3D embossing folder definitely adds impact to the card!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Pretty Peacock, Terracotta Tile), paper (In Colours DSP in Purple Posy), Purple Posy and Pretty Peacock markers, Hearts punches, In Colour embossed gems, dowloadable images, Hexagons 3D embossing folder

Other - Stazon black ink

Happy Wedding Day

By a happy coincidence, I saw Global Design Project's challenge #239 - Weddings - right when my Stampin' Up! order FINALLY arrived after lockdown Level 4 here in NZ. Those gorgeous borders just beg to be made into wedding cards! Just Add Ink's colour challenge #504 - Rococo Rose, Smoky Slate and Basic Grey - seemed like a match made in heaven. 

I only glued the centre of both the ornate border and the roses - I liked the way the edges rose off the page. In fact, I gently sponged Smoky Slate under the lacy border to heighten the shadowed effect. 

Now all we need is to be allowed to gather for weddings, and I'll be able to use it.

Keep safe, everyone. 

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White), ink (Rococo Rose, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Stazon Black), Stamps (Petal Palette, Beautiful Bouquet - sentiment), dies, (Petals and More, Ornate Frames)

Other - francheville rhinestones.

Baby card

Well, I'm going to be a grandmother, so I'm making baby cards. I'll probably have 40 to choose from by September!
This particular one is a response to three challenges: Freshly Made Sketch's #430, Retro Rubber's #132, and CAS Colours and Sketch's #365 . I was pleased to use the cute little baby from Stampin' Up!'s 'Family and Friends' stamps (2019 Occasions Catalogue)  - I've often looked at that set and thought I must get more use from it.
I hope you're staying safe - keep well!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card, (Very Vanilla, Petal Pink, Mint Macaron, Highland Heather), , stamps (Family and Friends, Zoo Babies), dies, (Stitched Rectangles, Stitched Shapes, Squares), embossing folder with dots (don't know its name), Gorgeous Grape watercolour pencil.

Other: ink (Stazon Black), Faber Castell watercolour pencils in Flesh and Umber

Gardens and Libraries

A beautiful quotation from Time Out - their challenge #159 - was the starting point for this card:

Then, happily, As You See It asked me for my favourite set of colours - a rainbow - as their challenge #223.

Working out the book was tricky (well, it was for me, 40 years after my last maths lesson!) - but after some false starts, here's the card: 

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Kraft, Highland Heather, So Saffron, Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Wild Wasabi, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise), stamps, (Butterfly Gala, Itty Bitty Greetings), Sending Flowers dies, Butterfly Duet punch.

Other: Memento Tuxedo Black inkm francheville rhinestones, Authentique 'Accomplished' DSP

Framed!

A very interesting sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch - CTS#366:

led me to Stampin' Up's! Honey Bee set. Something about the rectangles made me think about hexagons, I suppose. I used frames to lighten the effect of the rectangles, and black and gold Wink of Stella to highlight the bees.  Here's the card:

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! Whisper White and Basic Black card, Honey Bee stamps, Detailed Bee and Stitched Rectangle dies, Honey Bee DSP.

Other: Memento Black ink, Wink of Stella, some gold paper that I found in a drawer.  

Non-gendered baby card

A very short blog, just to show my response to two challenges: Just Add Ink's #499 (a colour challenge: Blushing Bride, Highland Heather and Balmy Blue, and The Paper Players' PP485-A Day at the Zoo. My day at the zoo was clearly spent in the petting zoo or shop, since these little elephants are definitely cute rather than realistic.
(Now I'll have to go back to my cousin's fb page, where he's driving me mad with maths puzzles.)
Here's the card:

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! card (Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride, Balmy Blue, Night of Navy), ink, (Blushing Bride, Balmy Blue, Night of Navy, Highland Heather), Little Elephant stampset, Elephant punch, Glitter, Glitter glue

Soft florals

Well, I was out of my comfort zone with both the soft colours (So Saffron, Pool Party and Petal Pink) of Global Design Project's challenge #233, and all the elements of Paper Craft Crew's sketch challenge #375:

However, I was pleased with the result - not least because I finally, after many false starts, successfully used the Forever Blossoms Bundle. I think that seeing my friend and teacher Jan Clothier  use it superbly  put me off! 

Ingredients:

Stampin' Up card, (Whisper White, Smoky Slate, So Saffron), ink, (Basic Grey, Petal Pink, Pool Party, stamps, (Forever Blossoms, Butterfly Gala) dies, (Needlepoint Elements, Cherry Blossoms, Stiched So Sweetly), and sequins.

Bees!

A very simple little card in response to CAS(E) This Sketch's #364. I loved this sketch - just the bare essentials on a card front. I'm also loving the 'Bee' stuff from Stampin' Up! I wasn't sure I would, but it's great.

Made with:
Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Pineapple Punch, Basic Black), ink, (Memento Tuxedo Black), stamps (Honey Bee) dies (Detailed Bee) Pineapple Punch pen, Shimmering Black Embossing Paste (used with Versamark Ink).

Rainbow on the Horizon

I find rainbows so hopeful, and so am always looking for a way to use them on a card. So thanks, Just Add Ink, for your rainbow challenge #495 - and thanks, CASOLOGY, for your Week 363 'Skyline' challenge, so I had somewhere to put it!
Note: the colour in the photo is a bit weird - it's white on white card!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card, (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White), ink (Smoky Slate, Wild Wasabi), pens, (Gorgeous Grape, Blueberry Bushel, Call Me Clover, Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Lovely Lipstick), stampset (Sunshine & Rainbows), Shimmery Black Embossing Powder, Stitched Rectangle Dies. 

Other: Versamark ink. 

Birthday Boy!

I bought Stampin' Up!'s 'Music From The Heart' stamps with my musical son in mind, and the time has come to use them. He loves rich, earthy colours, so I chose those and went for it, using Global Design Project's #GDP227 sketch for inspiration. I always find masculine cards tricky - so much easier to think about pretty, feminine ones - so I was pleased to see this one through. The background is sponged in Crumb Cake, Soft Suede and Mossy Meadow, and I mounted the little sentiment on more card to give it a little lift, without separating it out too much. The side panel paper is the 'B' side of the gorgeous, photographic 'Pressed Petals'.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! paper/card, (Very Vanilla, Pressed Petals DSP), ink, (Mossy Meadow, Night Of Navy, Merry Merlot, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede), stamps, (Music from the Heart, Label Me Bold), gold embossing powder.

Other: Versamark ink and stars and rhinestones of unknown provenance. 

Big and Small

Less is More's  #414 challenged me to incorporate 'Big and Small' elements in a card. The very pretty Stampin' Up stampset Thoughtful Blooms gave me 'big and small' flowers - so I enjoyed combining these on a card. I raised my bigger flowers on dimensionals, to further distinguish them from the small ones.
The card:

The Ingredients:

Stampin' Up! card (Whisper White, Thick Whisper White, Mint Macaron), ink (Mint Macaron, Lovely Lipstick, Gorgeous Grape), stamps (Thoughtful Blooms) punch (Small Bloom), black embossing powder, in season faceted dots. 

Easel - Easy!

I love getting new stamp and die sets, and getting to use them on great challenges! Here, I've used my new pride and joy, Stampin' Up's Painted Poppies bundle, for Sunday Stamp's SSC223, which required me to choose three colours from this pretty image:

Here's the card: 

and the ingredients: 

Stampin' Up! card: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, and Smoky Slate, and some watercolour paper. 

Also these: 

Bee Happy!

Our garden is currently abuzz with bees, so it feels appropriate to be posting this card. It's a response to Less Is More's challenge #412: Tiny and Few. Because of the nature of the challenge, I've kept things super simple. I was in two minds about buying the Honey Bee bundle from Stampin' Up!, but now it's here, I love it!
The card:

The ingredients: 

Stampin' Up card: Thick Whisper White, gold foil, Whisper White.

Also: