I had a fun family day yesterday, full of laughs and the last of the Christmas crackers. I'm back today with another couple of cards to welcome in the new year for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches:

I made two identical cards, one in each of two colourways. Here's the first one, in white and silver:

And here's the second one in black and gold:

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

A Frosted Medallion - For today's card I've used both the large medallion and the sentiment from the 'Frosted Medallions' stamp set as intended for a new year's card. I stamped both in Versamark and heat embossed them in silver on the white version. I debated about whether or not I should obscure that gorgeous medallion shape with the sentiment, but in the end decided that the card looked a little naked without the sentiment and besides, I like the way the edges frame the centred oval, giving just a hint of the design beneath. The Frosted Medallions stamp set is still available as part of the 'Year End Closeouts' for just a couple more days before retiring to make way for a new range of seasonal products, so if this set appeals to you, snap it up now before it's gone for good.

Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate Panel - My vertical background panel is courtesy of the Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate - I just love this for adding layering detail to cards without bulk. Easy for a two-way card too - I just cut two pieces and flipped one (don't forget to remove the protective seal from the silver-patterned side to see it shine in all its glory).

Stitched Shape Framelits Are Returning - I finished my card with a sentiment from the Frosted Medallions set framed in a simple stitched oval. I know these have been unavailable to order due to unprecedented demand when first introduced, however good news - those who did manage to order them before they were put on hold and had theirs on backorder will be receiving them any day now and for those who still want to get their hands on them, stocks are likely to have been fully replenished by mid-January so they will once again be available to purchase - and in time for Sale-A-Bration too, wahoo! These stitched shapes just finish off a sentiment beautifully and I guarantee one you have them you won't be able to stop using them!

So which one of these colourways do you prefer? I gave the gold and black one to my mother-in-law yesterday as I know she is partial to this colour combo, but I think I prefer the silver and white one myself - so crisp and fresh. I would love to know what you think - do feel free to leave me a comment below, I read them all and love it when you share your views with me.

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. 

That's all from me; back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Frosted Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies	Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder	Gold Foil Sheets	Silver Foil Sheets	Basic Black A4 Cardstock
Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock

It's Sunday and time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of our fearless leader the wonderful Nance to host this week and she has a fun wintery theme to get your creative juices flowing:

Use a snowflake (or two!) on your card. I decided that I wanted to feature the large frosted medallion snowflake from the stamp set of the same name on my card this week and this week's Mojo Monday sketch gave me the perfect layout - here's my card:

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

All About The Layers - My card this week has 9 layers in total, rather a lot even by my standards! Can you spot them all? They are, in order: Pool Party card base, Sugarplum square panel, vellum square, Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate, silver foil, Fancy Frost Specialty DSP, Sweet Sugarplum circle, a vellum circle with the frosted medallion stamped in Versamark and heat embossed in white and lastly the word 'joy' cut out of silver glimmer paper with my Wonderful Wreath framelits. A lot of layers indeed, yet I think they all play a part in contributing to the balance of the card design.

Glitter, Glitter - I used lots of elements to add sparkle to my card, from the Fabulous Foil Acetate, to the glimmer paper and sprinkle of Fancy Frost sequins, along with a rather fancy bow in silver (current) and Pool Party (retired) glitter ribbon beneath my snowflake. This card is definitely not practical for posting, but will make a nice special one to be hand delivered. The snowflake/glitter combination means I am linking up with CAS-ual Fridays too where these are both the order of the day!

A Contemporary Colour Combination - you may recognise my colour combination this week as the one our very own lovely Nance used for her pines card last week - you can see her card here. This isn't a colour combination I would ordinarily choose for a Christmas card, and I did start out using just white, silver and Sweet Sugarplum, but I felt it needed something more. I decided to add in the Pool Party as it looked so great on Nance's card and voila - an altogether brighter card, so thank you Nance! If you like this colour combination, feel free to save it:

So only one main snowflake on my card, but it is a big one! That said, I did use the snowflake background stamp from the Pretty Pines stamp set on my card base to add a little background decoration, so there are lots more there too!

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. 

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our theme this week. We are off for our usual Sunday morning of sport, followed by a spot of lunch and then we are going to watch a basketball game this afternoon - go Northampton Neptunes!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back soon with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Frosted Medallions Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Fancy Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper	Fancy Frost Sequins	3/8" (1 Cm) Glitter Ribbon Combo Pack	Christmas Pines Photopolymer Stamp Set
Versamark Pad	Heat Tool (Uk)	Embossing Buddy	White Stampin' Emboss Powder	Silver Foil Sheets
Fabulous Foil Designer Acetate	Silver Glimmer Paper	Vellum A4 Cardstock	Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies	Sweet Sugarplum A4 Cardstock
Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad