I have had so much going on over the past couple of weeks that I have had no time to do any stamping at all.  So yesterday I got up earlier and actually had time to make a card! Yayyyy….. 🙂
One of the reason I have been so busy, is that Jamie had his very first day at pre-school on Friday.  He really loved it, and had just so much fun. So here are a couple of photos, the first one just as we were leaving to walk down to pre-school, and in the second one he is sat right up the front near the teacher.  I will definitely be making a scrapbook page out of these 🙂

And now to my card.  The ESAD group for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators often runs challenges, and the latest challenge was to use the layout of one of the cards on Page 13 of the Summer Mini Catalogue (the orange card) and make our own version. I also had a few of my own personal challenges that I wanted to add to this, which were, to use some colours that I don’t use very often, and to use a stamp set that I haven’t used for a long time.  And here is what I came up with:

Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Thanks, Three Thoughts.

Cardstock: Whisper White, Gable Green, Orchid Opulence.

Inks: Basic Black, Orchid Opulence, Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise.

Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Paper piercing tool and Mat Pack, White Gel Pen, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon, Paper snips, sponges.

The idea for the colour combination came from a recent post on Gretchen Barron’s blog.  It is not a combination I would have thought of, but it is stunning, and I will definitely be using more bold bright combinations in my cards from now on.  So, thank you for the inspiration Gretchen.

I am sure we all have stamp sets that are sitting up the back of the cupboard, unused and collecting dust.  So set yourself a challenge to get one of them out, and stamp with it again.  Stampin’ Up!bring us so many new, gorgeous sets, that sometimes it is easy to forget about some of the old favourites.
Here’s to more stamping time,
Chris