Branching Out for Colour INKspiration 198

Welcome to the 198th challenge at Colour INKspiration. This challenge runs for nearly three weeks and will finish on Monday November 10, 7pm AEST.

This colour palette was chosen for us by Crew Member Alisa Tilsner.

If you haven't played with us before, we are a group of Stampin' Up Demonstrators from the South Pacific. Challenges are shown and entered via our Facebook Group page. If you don't belong, and would like to, click here. Don't forget to answer the three easy questions you'll be asked when you ask to join the group.

Each challenge, Top Picks and a winner are chosen by the crew and the winner offered a chance to Guest Design with us for a future challenge. We welcome Jenny Engelke as our Guest Designer for this challenge.

If you don't have an exact challenge colour, feel free to replace it with whatever you have that's closest, for example Cherry Cobbler for Real Red. Black, White, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige and metallics are free colours, as are flesh-toned Stampin' Blends.

While these colours didn't immediately speak to me of Christmas, the graphic did. It was a great chance to play around with an idea I had for the Branching Out bundle. I had wondered whether the pine needle stamp might work as Pohutukawa blooms for a New Zealand Christmas vibe. 

The pohutukawa is often called the New Zealand Christmas tree as it blooms with red over the Christmas season in coastal areas, making a really festive display. The idea of the beach worked well with the Pool Party and Coastal Cabana - and of course, the beach is a popular Christmas/New Year location for many kiwi families.

I started by cutting a Very Vanilla label from the Branching Out dies and a slightly larger one in Real Red. On the vanilla, I stamped in some branches in Crumb Cake, added in some 'blossom' in Real Red and some Coastal Cabana splats to suggest sea spray.

I sponged some Pool Party ink behind the blooms to create the impression of the ocean being glimpsed through the branches. 

I love the gold embossed sentiment which is from Ornamental Christmas. To bring in more gold, I die cut some of the leafy vines from Branching Out and used them like ribbon to draw the eye to the sentiment. I used some of the gold Sparkling Sequins, although I almost used the Pool Party ones instead. 

The card base and front are Coastal Cabana - such a gorgeous colour - and I've embossed the front with the new Online Exclusive folder, Beautiful Pattern.

You can see what the rest of the Design Team have done with these colours in the Crew Inspiration Album on the Colour INKspiration Challenge Facebook page.

If you live in New Zealand and don't have a Stampin' Up Demonstrator, I'd love to be yours. I can help you with ideas, get you catalogues and provide you with Stampin' Up products. You can leave a message in the comments or contact me using any of the methods listed in the Contact Me tab at the top of the page. 

You can stamp with me, and shop with me, from anywhere in New Zealand. Click here.