Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for our final challenge of the year, a colour challenge set by our erstwhile teamie Jane:

I decided that I wanted to make a Christmas card featuring the Branching Out bundle that has been sat on my desk for ages, waiting to be used - and it's already on the Last Chance List! Take a look:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

I had a layout in mind for my card, but when I saw a card using the Branching Out bundle by Jay Soriano, one of the UK Artisans, shared in our private demonstrator Facebook group earlier this week I changed my mind and decided to CASE his layout, but adding my own twist using our challenge colours. My base DSP was a piece of retired Brightly Gleaming specialty paper with a beautiful gold embossed design and you basically cut a slit into it before gluing to the base, so that you can slide the labels into it before gluing down. A slit is also added to the uppermost layer of the label above the stamped sentiment - this slit is the home for the various pieces of diecut greenery, berries and pinecones:

I added sparkly gold enamel dots for my berries for a touch of festive sparkle, along with some retired gold ribbon tied with Night of navy twine. I always cut more greenery than I need when making this type of card - perfect to decorate the inside:

I really like this layout and can see me using it with other sets too. I have finally posted all of my Christmas cards for the year, but I can't promise that I'm done with making them; it's always good to get a head start on next year, right?

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• For a Colour Challenge use all of the given colours and only those colours with these exceptions:
• White and Very Vanilla are free colours.
• In addition, you may use of ONE of these neutrals: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake, Basic Beige.
• For a Speed Stamping Challenge you must tell us the time it took to make your project and it must be finished in under 10 min.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your post.
• Make sure you link the specific post and not the whole blog to the Linky. Use AYSI#(insert challenge number) when uploading to a public gallery
• Please turn off word verification so that we can send you lots of feedback.
• You can combine our challenge with up to 3 other compatible challenges. 
• We do reserve the right to delete, or not consider for Top Pick and Featured Artist, entries that do not comply with these guidelines.

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BRANCHING OUT BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PECAN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)
MOSSY MEADOW CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	OPAL ROUNDS ASSORTMENT (£8.00)	BLENDING BRUSHES (£14.00)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Colour Inkspiration where they are celebrating their 200th challenge - congratulations!

This card ended up becoming a set of 6 so I'm also entering the card set challenge over at TGIF Challenges - more on that shortly. First up, this was my initial card:

Here's the low-down on today's card:

Real Red Forever - As my dear friend Jan said when she made her DT card for this challenge, being asked to choose your favourite SU colour is a little like being asked to choose your favourite child - impossible, right? I decided to answer this question, I would take a look at which colour of cardstock I had the most of - because this is a sure sign that this is a colour I use a lot! The answer was hands down, Real Red - which also happens to be one of the first three ink pad colours I ever purchased at the start of my SU journey (the others were Pacific Point - now retired although replaced in my affections with blueberry Bushel - and Old Olive - still current but usurped by Shaded Spruce, my favourite green ever!) I use the other reds too, but Real Red will always be my favourite - a true scarlet red that works for so many occasions. 

Having chosen my colour, this also gave me the opportunity to use my favourite sheet of red and gold poinsettias in the Traditions of Christmas specialty DSP pack that I had yet to cut into. I decided to use the paper as a base, then add a simple diecut label using the Branching Out Dies, and finish with a simple layered sentiment using my Concorde & 9th Holiday Sayings Dies:

Di you know that the poinsettia is a flower that is believed to symbolise peace? This simple greeting seemed therefore appropriate, layered in gold foil and the DSP behind. A simple sentiment completes the inside of my card - this is the only stamping on today's card:

Make The Most Of Your DSP - Having cut the pieces for my initial card, I was struck by how much of the pattern I was ultimately going to cover with my label; so before I stuck the pieces down, I cut another smaller label from the patterned paper and backed this with one in gold foil, to create a second card design that was the reverse of the first one:

This time, I added my sentiment in Real Red, backed with gold foil:

This is a great way to get two cards out of one piece of DSP. Here's a photo of both cards together:

A Card Set - I had cut a single length of paper from my initial 12x12 DSP sheet, which enabled me to make three cards. Using the above 2-for-1 principle, I managed to make a set of 6 cards, 3 of each of the 2 designs:

I really wanted the designer paper and the colour to take centre stage, so didn't add any thing else in the way of embellishments to my card. A great way to produce a set of cards that would make a lovely gift. Which card design do you prefer? I think I ended up liking the second card design even more than the first!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

You can see all of my 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day; I'm off to my pilates class this morning and am going out for my first Christmas night out this evening with one of my closest friends, so looking forward to that. In between time, I need to stop making Christmas cards and start writing some! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.40)

BRANCHING OUT DIES (£27.00)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

WORDS FOR THE SEASON CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£13.20)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)