Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'Chinese New Year' which is on 22nd January. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used red, gold, rabbit, envelopes, heat embossing and new year sentiment and decided I would stick with our theme this week and create a card for Chinese new year - this is what I came up with:

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

Year of the Rabbit - Since this Chinese new year is the Year of the Rabbit, my new Easter Rabbit punch came in handy! I used a punched rabbit for the centrepiece of my card; whilst my whole card was in red and gold, I wanted it to stand out a little more without adding in another colour, so I swiped my Poppy Parade cardstock with my ink pad in the same colour for a deeper shade - the photo below shows the difference:

Brightest Glow - I used a new year sentiment from the 'Brightest Glow' stamp set and another of the co-ordinating diecuts from the Labels Aglow Dies to reveal the gold foil of my mat layer to 'frame' the rabbit:

Red Envelopes - I completed my card with a few envelopes snipped from the 'Full of Love' stamp set that I heat embossed in gold on red. Did you know that red envelopes, often with gold detailing and containing money or gift cards, are traditionally given to children to celebrate Chinese new year and are considered to bring good luck, health and prosperity?

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. 

I'm also linking today's card up over at Global Design Project where their theme is 'party'.

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Card Making and Paper Crafting Challenge Design team:

Enjoy your day; mine will be a busy one, as I'm going into Birmingham for some shopping and a trip to the theatre this evening - exciting! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

EASTER BUNNY PUNCH (18.00)	FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)	BRIGHTEST GLOW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	LABELS AGLOW DIES (31.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday; I've also used the Try Stamping On Tuesday sketch for my layout and played tic-tac-toe colours over at Color My Heart Color Dare (first column plus Seabrook):

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Letter Writing Day' which is on December 7th. Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used hello sentiment, envelope and embossing folder from the inspo list and in a change from this week's run of Christmas cards, this is what I came up with:

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

Full of Love - The 'Full of Love' stamp set was the obvious choice for my card today, as it features not one but two envelopes! I used the one surrounded by flowers on the front of my card, tucking an embossed panel in behind (I used the retired Greenery embossing folder) and coloured it with my Stampin' Blends markers. I added my sentiment to a stitched circle, masking it so that the words stamped one above the other rather than side by side.  

It's In The Detail - In addition to the (retired) striped Poppy Parade ribbon and bow, I stamped the image again and fussy cut the envelope and added it with dimensionals for a little extra height and added a few small pearls to the centre of the pink flowers:

Finishing Touches - I used another stamp from this set to decorate both the inside of my card and the reverse of my own envelope - for the envelope I used the other flower-filled envelope image in the set:

This is such a pretty card and I can't wait to write it to someone. Are you a big letter writer?  I have always loved writing letters; as a young girl, I would write to one of my aunts who lived the other side of the country on an almost weekly basis and we continued this ritual until she became too ill with Parkinson's Disease in her old age to hold a pen, but we both loved sharing each other's news across the years and it definitely brought us closer together. Today's card is in memory of her but will definitely be sent to someone else to brighten up their mailbox. It's so easy in today's busy world to resort to a text or WhatsApp message, but there really is no substitute for some good old-fashioned letter writing. Why not pick up a pen and send someone a handwritten note today?

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (20.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (33.00)	STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)
FLIRTY FLAMINGO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	SOFT SEA FOAM STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (5.75)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (5.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Ann Marie to host this week and she has an interesting colour challenge for you to work with:

Black and white and a pop of any colour - how fun! I reached for some black and white designer paper, my 'Full of Love' stamp set and some Polished Pink cardstock and a selection of pink Stampin' Blends and set to work. This is what I came up with:

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

I originally reached for my Perfectly Pencilled DSP, but having decided to use the 'Full of Love' stamp set, I decided some (retired) All together DSP would be a better choice with its heart pattern, to tie in with the stamps on the stamped envelopes. I coloured the blank hearts on the paper with both shades of my Polished Pink Blends markers, then added a panel of Polished Pink cardstock, that I stamped some tone-on-tone hearts across the centre. I added some twine, then a row of stamped envelopes that I fussy cut from one of the main stamps, before overlaying a heat embossed sentiment:

A sprinkling of (retired) white resin hearts, in-colour gems and rhinestones complete my card.

I originally made this card with something else in mind, but I got a little carried away and it evolved into a pretty card perfect for today's challenge and just the card to send a little love someone's way!

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:

Enjoy your day; I'll be back on Tuesday with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	POLISHED PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)	POLISHED PINK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£5.75)

Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday where this week we are celebrating 'National Best Friends Day' which is on June 8th.

Remember the fun thing is that at Festive Friday you do not need to actually celebrate the occasion; your goal is to simply use three or more items from the inspiration list on your project. This week I used feminine, pink, sparkle and patterned paper along with the sketch over at Atlantic Hearts for my layout and this is what I came up with:

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

Abstract Beauty - I made a simple card today using two contrasting pieces of Abstract Beauty designer series paper: an abstract background and a bright, floral central strip. These papers are sized perfectly for A5 cards. I chose a couple of flowers and some leaves from the co-ordinating ephemera pack that complimented the floral strip to decorate my sentiment oval. 

Full of Love - The sentiment on my card comes from the new 'Full of Love' stamp set. I stamped it on the swirly rectanglular diecut from the Beautiful Shapes Dies set from the same suite:

Finishing Touches - I added a few (retired) gold gilded gems for a little extra sparkle to compliment the gold foiling of the floral paper and having used only a strip of floral paper on the centre of my card, I used the remainder to line my envelope for a little extra touch of 'pretty':

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. 

How does our board inspire you? I can’t wait to see what YOU create! For more inspiration, be sure to visit the rest of the  Festive Friday Challenge Design team:

Ann Schach
Beth McCullough
Sharon Hashimoto Burkert
Melanie Hungerford
Helen Jennings
Stephanie Lanzalotto
Melva Peters
Jaydee
Diane Evans
Joanne James

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BEAUTIFUL SHAPES DIES (£27.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY 4" X 6" (10.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

ABSTRACT BEAUTY EPHEMERA PACK (£6.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.75)

FULL OF LOVE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)