Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the inspiration challenge over at SUO Challenges using the Sketch Saturday layout:

I took my inspiration from the cream flowers on the seat of the chair, the straw hat and that lovely green background of the SUOC photo. I grabbed my Beautiful Gallery papers as I wanted to make a feature of one of the pages featuring some pretty cream florals - take a look:

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

First things first: yes, I did take some liberties with that sketch! All of the elements are there, albeit in different proportions. I really wanted to use the Impressions Abloom frame to showcase as much of that pretty paper as possible and whilst I first made the elements proportional, that rectangle behind didn't look right. So I removed the ribbon border that I had added and replaced with a smaller rectangle with border detailing, which I embossed with my (retired) Subtles embossing folder for some added texture, inspired by that straw hat in the picture. The elements of the sketch are still there, but with a wider interpretation than usual:

A simple thank you sentiment and a few brass enamel dots complete today's card.

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; it's still roasting here in the UK so whilst I'm enjoying the warm weather, I'll be keeping out of the sun! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

NESTED ESSENTIALS DIES (£32.00)	IMPRESSIONS ABLOOM DIES (£32.00)	BEAUTIFUL GALLERY 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£11.75)	FRIENDS FOR LIFE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£9.60)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC BEIGE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where Jan is hosting and it's time for a speed challenge with an interesting theme:

Water - in all it's forms! I don't mind saying, I procrastinated for ages before making my card today; I was convinced I didn't have any current product that would fit the bill, but after a quick conversation with my fellow teamie Jan and a peruse through the Stampin' Up! catalogue, I saw this week's sketch over at Global Design Project and I knew exactly what to do! This is my finished card:

But how did I get there? Here's the low-down on today's card:

Beautiful Gallery - I actually had a few items with a water theme - the Otterly Adorable suite and the Waves Embossing Folder to name a couple - and I used one of the seascapes in the Beautiful Gallery pack for my panelled card over at The Paper Players at the start of the week (you can see that card here if you missed it). My conversation with Jan prompted me to revisit the pack to see if there were any other designs that featured water. I found one, so chose a stamp set, gathered the remainder of my supplies and set my stopwatch - go!

I chose Lost Lagoon and Secret Sea as my coordinating colours, and trimmed my DSP and a panel of Lost Lagoon, then split my image into three sections:

With Sympathy - I did choose a retired stamp set for my sentiment: a previous Sale-A-Bration stamp set called 'Heal Your Heart', which has some lovely sentiments for sympathy cards. I am low on sympathy cards and thought that the tranquility of this image would work well for this kind of card, especially one with a masculine feel. If you want a current set with similar sentiments, 'The Right Words' on page 89 of the catalogue would be a good choice.

A Close Call - Basic card complete in just a few minutes and that's when I decided to go on the hunt for a suitable embellishment - and realised I didn't have any to hand! I filddled with a Mossy Meadow twine bow (nope!) followed by a quick rifle through the embellishment basket let me to a simple trio of Lost Lagoon enamel dots  - better! - to complete my card. Did I get there in time?

At 9 minutes 36 seconds, I was still within my 10 minute limit - phew! The moral of the story though - gather EVERYTHING you need (or might need!) before you start - in a speed challenge, that is most definitely the key to success!

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 or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

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

RAINBOW ADHESIVE-BACKED DOTS (£8.50)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

LOST LAGOON A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

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

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

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)

CLOUD COVER A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

NEUTRALS ADHESIVE-BACKED SEQUINS (£7.00)