Inspired by colour

Whenever I see the colour palettes at the ColourQ, I want to drop everything and roll my sleeves up! Sadly, that's not always possible, but this week I'm afraid duties were a little neglected in my excitement over not only the colours but also the inspiration picture - just look at them! Come and see where it all led me:

A real mix of stamps were used to produce this scene, which I shall also link up to Make My Monday where the challenge is to 'Create a Summer Scene'.

I started by using a post-it note mask and sponging Pool Party into it to make a 'mountain'. The grass from Love and Sympathy was stamped over the bottom of the panel and the floral branch from Hopeful Thoughts at the top. I used markers to ink up my stamps, substituting Rich Razzleberry for Orchid Opulence since I don't have it.

The colours needed balancing so I cleaned my Hopeful Thoughts stamp, inked up a group of flowers from it to sprinkle in the grass, and added birds from the retiring Up, Up and Away set. The sentiment is from a hostess set long since retired but still a big favourite of mine.

To finish the card, I stapled a tab to the panel made with the new Mosaic punch (available 2nd July). Running a Summer starfruit marker round the edge of the stamped panel and a Rich Razzleberry one round the edge of its mat adds subtle dimension.

There! And I feel positively wicked having that much fun when I should've been tackling my 'to do' list!

Here's what you'll need to make this card
Stamps: Hopeful Thoughts, Love and Sympathy, Up, Up and Away (retiring), sentiment (retired)
Ink: Pool Party classic ink, Rich Razzleberry, Basic Grey, Summer Starfruit markers
Card stock: Very Vanilla, Naturals Ivory
Other: Mosaic punch (available 2nd July), stamp-a-majig
I CAN ORDER STAMPIN' UP ITEMS FOR YOU AND HAVE THEM DELIVERED STRAIGHT TO YOUR ADDRESS IN THE UK. I'M COMMITTED TO PROVIDING EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND AM ALWAYS HAPPY TO OFFER HELP AND ADVICE. TO FIND OUT MORE OR TO PLACE YOUR ORDER, JUST SEND ME AN EMAIL OR GIVE ME A CALL ON 01280 820593.
• To make way for new items some of our favourites are retiring. Click the links to see STAMPS and ACCESSORIES available, while stocks last, until SUNDAY!

My children have very kindly taken over washing up duties after my accident at the weekend (I sewed through my finger with the sewing machine - ouch!) so naturally they are eager to keep themselves up to date on the healing process! Yesterday at breakfast they asked how the finger was and I told them it was fine now. My youngest son sighed with relief. "That's good," he said. "Thank goodness you didn't sew through it with Big Belinda!" That transported me back to when he was tiny and used to 'tidy' my sewing box for a special treat - Big Belinda was the name he gave to my bodkin!

Have a lovely weekend and I'll be back very soon with more crafting fun!