Happy Monday everyone - a new week begins! Today I'm sharing a card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I decided the horizontal panels would work for a two-piece sentiment, so I chose to pair the Wonderland sentiments with the holy family image from 'All Ye Faithful' and some not so Christmassy designer series paper - take a look:

I used Tip Top Taupe for my card base, with a mat of Hello Honey and a piece of the Sweet Li'l Things starry paper for the background panels. I stamped my holy family in Memento Black and coloured it using my inks and blender pen, stamping my sentiment in black on two panels of Marina Mist. Not altogether tricky and I must say I love the pop of blue from the Marina Mist sentiment panels. Great to be able to use this paper in a non-baby way too. I've already had another idea for this sketch which, all being well, I will make up and share later in the week. 

That's all from me today; a piano lesson, business meeting then hopefully some time at my desk crafting this afternoon. Enjoy your Monday - I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Wonderland Wood-Mount Stamp Set	All Ye Faithful Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Sweet Li'l Things Designer Series Paper	Marina Mist Classic Stampin' Pad	Marina Mist A4 Cardstock
Tip Top Taupe Classic Stampin' Pad	Tip Top Taupe A4 Cardstock	Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad	Hello Honey A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
Blender Pens	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great colour challenge for you:

I decided that this week's colours were perfect for a night sky, so decided to indulge in a spot of masking and sponging to create my Bethlehem-inspired scene. here's my card:

I used a base of Delightful Dijon and a matt of Elegant Eggplant, then on a piece of Whisper White I masked off a rectangle and sponged in my sky, starting at the top with Island Indigo and the bottom with Elegant Eggplant. I stamped the stars from the 'Holly Jolly Greetings' stamp set in the sky in Versamark and heat embossed them in gold, then overlaid my landscape cut from Delightful Dijon using the Sleigh Ride Edgelits. To finish, I added my sentiment from the 'All ye Faithful' stamp set in Elegant Eggplant across the bottom.

A simple design, but I can't begin to tell you how much I love this card! I thought I would find these colours intimidating, but it turns out the opposite is true.

Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge colours; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Good morning everyone - happy Monday to you! This morning I have a Christmas card using this week's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches:

Now I looked at this sketch and loved the layout and almost went with it 'as is' using the square as my shape - such a classic layout - but decided since Cindy was ok with 'any shape' I would actually go with a much less literal interpretation. So without further ado, here's my card:

I used Crumb Cake for my base, then stamped the shepherds and wise men from the 'All Ye Faithful' stamp set onto a strip of Early Espresso cardstock and heat embossed them in gold and matted this panel with gold foil cardstock before adhering to my card base. I then did the same to my holy family onto a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock and coloured it with my inks and a blender pen before cutting out with the smallest of the Ovals Framelits and my Big Shot. I then popped this up on dimensionals between the stamped images on the Early Espresso piece. To finish, I stamped my sentiment in Early Espresso directly onto the Crumb Cake base layer. 

So as you can see, a less than literal interpretation of the sketch but each of the key elements is present. I adore this stamp set and these images are beautiful whether used individually or as a set.

That's all from me today; I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

All Ye Faithful Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Embossing Buddy	Heat Tool (Uk)	Versamark Pad	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Big Shot	Ovals Collection Framelits Dies	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock
Gold Foil Sheets

Today it's time for a new challenge over at Create With Connie and Mary and this week we have a great sketch challenge for you:

As I'm still excited to be working may way through my box of seasonal preorder goodies, I have another Christmas card to share with you today using the All Ye Faithful stamp set and Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Sseries Paper and washi tape. Here's my card: 

My colour scheme today was inspired by the Winter Wonderland product suite - a mix of black, white and gold, with foil accents and real sparkle. Using Basic Black for my base with a mat of gold foil, then used a piece of Winter Wonderland DSP with a crackle-glaze pattern for the front of my card. I edged a piece of Whisper White with gold striped washi tape, then stamped my sentiment in Memento Black on the right hand edge. This sentiment does actually come on one line, so in order to make it work for my card and the sketch I carefully masked off parts of it to enable me to stamp it in three separate sections. For the oval, I stamped Mary and Joseph in Versamark onto Basic Black card and heat embossed it in gold. I backed this with an oval that was cut to the same size using my Big Shot and Ovals Framelits, then cut in half vertically; this then creates a frame that enables the oval to stand out, but isn't too wide, as it would have been if I'd used the next size framelit up. To finish, I added a trio of flags punched using my Tripe Banner Punch, featuring more of the patterns in the Winter Wonderland DSP suite. 

Whilst this isn't a colourway I would necessarily have been drawn to of my own accord, it is very on-trend and I do love the way the entire suite of products make co-ordination so easy - good old Stampin' Up! I love the All Ye Faithful stamp set too - one of my favourite religious sets in the new catalogue, it comes with two other feature stamps and a verse sentiment too that I used on the inside of my card:

I hope you like today's card. Do visit the other Design Team members to see how they used this week's challenge sketch; there's lots of inspiration over on their blogs too!

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another sneak-peek project, one for Halloween this time. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

 * All Ye Faithful - available September 1st

* Winter Wonderland Specialty Designer Series Paper - available September 1st

*Winter Wonderland Washi Tape - available September 1st