Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's our last challenge of 2020 and the turn of the amazing Claire to host this week. She has a colour challenge for you to work with:

I've been super busy this week so have not been a frequent blogger I'm afraid. To make amends, I have two cards for you today! I'm still making Christmas cards and wanted to play along with challenge over at The Card Concept because I loved the textures in the inspiration photo so I decided to make two cards, both using the Fab Friday sketch layout: a silver, black and white one for my Paper Players card and then a gold, black and white version for The Card Concept. So first up - here's my Paper Players card:

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

Both cards feature a pair of ornaments from the Christmas Gleaming set, one heat embossed on Whisper White card and the other onto Basic Black, along with piece of foil embossed with the Parisian Flourish 3D embossing folder and wiped with black ink for a slightly more aged look, black and silver/gold glimmer paper, tassels, gem embellishments and mesh ribbon and twine bows. Just check out the texture and detail:

I switched out the background embossing folder and one or two other small details to recreate a gold, black and white version:

I'm going for a 'classy and elegant' look with my cards today: the polished, shiny finish, layered textures and sparkly embellishments are a definite change from my normal 'clean and layered' style, but I quite like them. I think the sparkle and shine balances all the black and the textures are just lovely:

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

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

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

This is our last challenge of the year before we take a short break over Christmas. It is time to say thank you and goodbye to Stef, Allisa and Mary, our fabulous guest designers this year. They have all been fabulous and we will miss them lots! 

Enjoy your day; I am going to try and finish writing my Christmas cards today, whilst also squeezing in some festive baking and maybe just a little crafting too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

CHRISTMAS GLEAMING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£14.00)	PARISIAN FLOURISH 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	SILVER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)
RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	SUBTLE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHRISTMAS GLEAMING CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£14.00)	PARISIAN FLOURISH 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	GILDED GEMS (£6.50)	TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing another Christmas card, this time for the current challenges over at As You See It and Festive Friday:

I was determined to have another go at the current AYSI sketch and go with it the right way up and since metallics are a big feature of my card today it is also perfect for the challenge over at Festive Friday too - take a look:

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

Brightly Gleaming - This fabulous copper detailed designer series paper from the Brightly Gleaming specialty designer series paper is the inspiration for the colour scheme of my card today. The Brightly Gleaming Suite is one of the new suites in the forthcoming autumn-winter seasonal catalogue and the specialty paper is most definitely the star of the show in my opinion! Seasonal stars and bauble images combined with all-purpose patterns, with half of the designs having copper foil accents that truly make this paper shine. 

Christmas Gleaming Ornaments - I stamped and heat embossed all of the elements of my decorated bauble ornament and added some Night of Navy colouring with my Stampin' Blends for added detail, before punching out with the co-ordinating ornament punch. This was so quick, a little fussy cutting with the holly and berries was totally worth it. I also did a little stamping inside my card:

Copper Cabana - If you're still reading then please accept my apologies for the dodgy Barry Manilow reference :-) Today's card really is a celebration of metallics, and copper in particular. That gorgeous copper foil-accented paper, a full copper foil mat, the heat embossed sentiment and ornament detail, along with the addition of one of the foil elements that also form part of this suite, all serve to give this card a truly luxurious feel.

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 and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Christmas Gleaming Bundle (En) (£46.75)	Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Copper Foil Sheets (£4.75)	Brightly Gleaming Foil Elements (£6.50)	Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Versamark Pad (£8.75)
Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder (£5.50)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Pretty Peacock A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Night Of Navy Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Laurie to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge, for you to work with:

This is a great sketch with so many creative possibilities! I've finally found time to start playing with my pre-order goodies and I know how much you all like a 'sneak peek' so I have a few of those in store for you this week. My first one comes today is the form of new stamps, papers and a punch to make this brightly coloured Christmas card: 

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

A Night Before Christmas - This sheet of bauble-patterned paper inspired the colour scheme for my Christmas card today. It is part of the 'A Night Before Christmas' paper pack which is actually part of the suite of the same name and is full of traditional Christmas imagery. The jewel colours of red, yellow, green, blue and silver against the navy background are echoed throughout my card and the circle of Laurie's sketch was the perfect place to showcase this bold patterned paper.

Christmas Gleaming - I wanted to add a little something to make my card a little more fancy, so firstly I created a tone-on-tone background panel by stamping the small bauble from the 'Christmas Gleaming' stamp set in Night of Navy in a pattern on my mat layer. Although it's from an entirely different suite it co-ordinates with my chosen DSP perfectly. For my shape I chose a bauble from the same set. I stamped it in Cherry Cobbler on Very Vanilla cardstock and coloured in part of the design with my Dark Poppy Parade marker, before punching out with the co-ordinating punch. To decorate my bauble,  I took inspiration from my wonderful PP teamie the talented Ann Schach, lover of pearls in all shapes and sizes (although I don't think she's used any on her card this week!), and added a whole bunch of silver metallic pearls to my ornament pattern, finishing with a bow in some retired silver twine. I love the added detail this gives.

A Simple Joy - My sentiment today comes from the new set 'So Many Stars', which also has some lovely mini verses that are perfect for the inside of your card:

So what do you think? Is today's sneak peek of new Christmas products making you excited for the arrival of the Autumn-Winter catalogue? It is still another couple of weeks before it will be available to customers for ordering on September 4th, however if you really can't wait then it's worth considering taking advantage of the current joining offer: for anyone joining Stampin' Up! before the end of August, for £99 you will receive an extra £25 of product, so £155 for £99, in addition to an £8 bonus coupon to use next month and all of the other ongoing benefits that being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator offers. If this is something that interests you and you would like to know more, then do read all about it here or get in touch - I'd love to help you decide if this is something that could work for you.

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 Product and 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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; we are enjoying a Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK and so far the weather has been glorious. We have been enjoying a weekend of BBQs and fun with friends and so are hoping for more of the same as the weekend continues. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Christmas Gleaming Bundle (En) (£46.75)	Night Before Christmas 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Designer Series Paper (£10.75)	Stitched Shapes Dies (£28.00)	So Many Stars Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£24.00)	Metallic Pearls (£6.50)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Poppy Parade Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)