Hello ......

Happy Sunday evening to you ......

I hope you've had a nice weekend.
So .... here we are in April, and it's time to get back to business!  It's been nice having the break but .... I have missed you all!
It's going to be a busy week coming up ........... both blog wise, and the old social diary is getting pretty full this week .... should be a good one!

Let's get things underway with a Blog Challenge shall we.  It's time to have some fun with this month's Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge

So ....... what exactly is CAS (Clean and Simple)?
Well .... it's sounds easy enough but ...... it's one of those designs/techniques that some of us really struggle with, and they can end up being the hardest cards to make.

For me, CAS is ......... lots of white space, although it doesn't have to be white it can be any colour, but just clean space ....... nothing on it.  Minimum layers is a must ........ no matting and layering.  One main focal point and go easy on the embellishments ...... remember less is more!

This is the Happy Little Stampers definition of CAS ........ which, to be in with a chance of becoming a challenge winner, you must follow

As with all the HLS challenges, CAS is sponsored by the Happy Little Stampers store

and the winner will receive a discount to spend in the shop.  Full details can be found over on the HLS Blog

OK ..... now we've got that out of the way, here's my take on the challenge theme for April ......

It's all about BLENDING this month ...... and I've gone with my well loved, well used Distress Inks which always blend so beautifully no matter which colours you use

I die cut the large word into a piece of white cardstock cut to fit the front of my base card.  I then cut it again from another piece of white and also a piece of card that I had blended the two colours of Distress Ink onto (Picked Raspberry and Mustard Seed)

I then layered up each letter with the coloured one on top just to give a little bit of dimension, and then inlaid them back into the piece of white card ...... this makes sure that the letters are all in line and perfectly straight!

I then stamped the butterfly from the HLS Especially for You set and coloured it using the same colours of Distress

I added a stamped word to complete my sentiment on the front of the card ..... from HLS Butterfly Birthday and added in a few tiny ink splatters here and there

For the inside I used the die again, this time cutting it slightly off the edge and inlaying it with some coloured letters as before

Just the one layer this time so that it sits flush with the white card

Now it's your turn ..... get those blending tools out and have some fun!

Thanks for popping by ...... enjoy the rest of your day.
This post was actually scheduled yesterday (Saturday) ..... we've been out all day today with a bunch of hubby's work pals.  Sunday lunch (Yeah!  I didn't have to cook), followed by a few drinks and then a friendly game of poker (always fun)  Lets hope it ended well!

Cheerio until next time ......