Colour Challenge Comeback

It’s been a while since I last shared a card here — but this week, I finally sat down to make something special for a friend’s birthday, and it felt so good to get those stamps and inks out again.

For this card, I pulled out an old favourite from my stash: Butterfly Basics. It’s a retired Stampin’ Up! set, but one I still reach for when I want something timeless and pretty.

When I’m feeling creatively rusty, I often look to card challenges for a jump-start — and this week’s colour combo at Global Design Project #GDP505 gave me the perfect palette to play with: Old Olive, Strawberry Slush, and Pretty Peacock. I paired it with the clean and versatile sketch from Freshly Made Sketches — thanks, Jen T!

I began by stamping the sentiment in Pretty Peacock, masking it off, and then adding the large floral image over the top. The image was coloured with blender pens using Strawberry Slush and Old Olive, echoing the challenge colours.

Once the layout was together, something still felt a little flat — so I added a bold 'Happy' in Strawberry Slush and outlined the 'birthday' sentiment with a fine liner. That simple detail gave it a beautiful bordered look and helped the sentiment pop against the rest of the card.

It was a joy to revisit these old favourites and play with some creative prompts. Thanks to the challenge hosts for the inspiration — and happy birthday to my sweet friend this weekend!

Let me know if you’re also crafting with retired sets — I’d love to hear what old favourites are still in your rotation. 💛