This is my first post of a two-post Friday and I'm here with my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday. 

The challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'National Cookie Day' which is on 4th December. 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 cookie, brown, circles and recipe and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Gingerbread & Peppermint - My card front features a piece of the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper with a circular pattern, behind an angled panel that is anchored by a gingerbread cookie, fussy cut from a Memories & More card, and with an added stamped sentiment from the 'What's Cookin' stamp set that gives a hint as to what can be found inside. 

Memories and More - There are no actual cookies inside my card, but there is the next best thing: a recipe for ultimate easy gingerbread! Presentation of my recipe was super easy, as some of the cards included in the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories & More pack are perfect for noting your favourite holiday recipes. As such, they are perfect not only for memory keeping and recording, but also to create a fun mini-recipe folder like this one. I used two M&M cards; I wrote my ingredients on the first one:

Ultimate Easy Gingerbread - I added a second card, this time writing out the method detailing how to make the gingerbread. I photographed it so that hopefully you can read it and pin it if you'd like to have a go - it's delicious:

I love to bake at Christmas time and I am famed for my iced gingerbread biscuits. Here's a photo of them drying before going into jars for gifting:

Baking gingerbread is one of my favourite things to do during the festive season - although my friends and family usually request the finished product, rather than the recipe!

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 morning and I'll be back later with my project for the new challenge over at As You See It. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (£10.25)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

REAL RED 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£6.50)

WHAT'S COOKIN' CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)

EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today I'm actually combining my design team card for both our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a sketch challenge and the new challenge over at Festive Friday:

It just so happened my card fulfilled both briefs, so I thought I would go with it as I've been time-pressed this week (nothing new there then!) At As You See It we have a sketch challenge and at Festive Friday we are celebrating World Apple Day - but if you check out my card, you'll see there's not an apple in sight! Take a look at my card and you'll see what I mean:

My card today is for a baker - and a Christmas baker at that! 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, green, baking and gingham on today's creation.

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

Gingerbread and Peppermint - One of my many passions in life is to bake, and at Christmas time I am known for my gingerbread cookies, so the Gingerbread and Peppermint Suite from Stampin' Up! immediately appealed to my inner baker. I love the papers in particular, as they are perfect for fussy cutting and that's where I took my trio of gingerbread cookies from that are on my card today. If you're not a fan of fussy-cutting, the Gingerbread Dies fit some of the shapes on the designer series paper, but honestly they are super easy to kit by hand too. The gingham banner on my card is some old retired paper, as there isn't a pattern that is technically gingham in this paper pack. There are lots of check and plaid patterns, but since I was being a purist I grabbed some old papers, but if you wanted to CASE my card, I would totally use one of the other patterns in this paper pack.

Memories & More - One of the other things I love about the Gingerbread & Peppermint Suite is that it features this season's Memories and More cards too. I will be using them to document my own festive bakes, but they are also great for cards too and on today's card, they really are the star of the show. So many of the elements that you see on my card come from the Gingerbread & Peppermint Memories and More pack: The spatula, oven glove, foil embossed snowflakes, that fabulous metal cooling rack and even the sentiment, which I fussy cut from one of the cards in the pack. So many great elements to play with:

Look No Stamping - Did you notice there isn't a single stamp on today's card? Not even on the inside, where I decided to use one of the memories and More stickers:

They really do make for easy cards, but with so many bits and pieces you can have a lot of creative fun with them too. I will be sending this card to a friend along with some of my famous gingerbread cookies during December; I might have to make a few more 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. 

Here's a summary of the As you See It challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.
• In a sketch challenge, you are welcome to rotate or flip a sketch. You can replace shapes used such as substituting a circle panel for a square panel. However, we must be able to still see the basis of the original sketch in your finished product.

Ann Schach

Beth McCullough

Sharon Hashimoto Burkert

Melanie Hungerford

Helen Jennings

Stephanie Lanzalotto

Melva Peters

Jaydee

Diane Evans 

Joanne James - that's me!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT MEMORIES & MORE CARD PACK (£10.25)

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

BASIC BORDERS DIES (£27.00)

This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Bhavya has asked that we use four images stacked vertically, interspersed with a sentiment. Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

My card today was completely driven by the need to find four images and a sentiment that would fit on a card front; that and my current phase of fussy-cutting images from designer paper! Here's what I came up with:

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

Super simple this one! I fussy cut four of the mini gingerbread images from the Gingerbread and Peppermint designer series paper, along with a base from the same pack to give a little border on each side, and stacked them on dimensionals, interspersing with a sentiment stamped in Real Red taken from the Poinsettia Petals stamp set:

That's all there is to it - super simple and very little stamping 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. 

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! color names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible.

This is a big week in the James household, so blogging will be a little less frequent than usual. Today my nephew received his A Level results: an A and two A*s, which he is thrilled with and is testament to his hard work and effort in recent months. Tomorrow it is the turn of the James Junior who turns 14 - we have some exciting surprise birthday celebrations planned which I will share later in the week! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GINGERBREAD & PEPPERMINT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)

Happy Monday everyone! I had a little extra crafting time at the weekend so to start the week I have not one, but two cards that were inspired by some current challenges. My first card is using Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I'm also linking up over at Time Out where the code word is 'hungry' and at Christmas Craft Creations where their theme is 'anything goes':

I didn't let myself be put off by Amy's diagonal lines and decided that some festive gingerbread was in order - take a look:

My card features two of the designs in the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper set from the upcoming mini catalogue - the gingerbread cookies are cut out of one of the papers (the sentiment is from a retired set):

This suite makes me hungry just looking at it - I mean, is it too early to start baking gingerbread in July?!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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. 

My second card uses the colours over at Color Throwdown and I went across the top row of Paper Craft Crew's tic-tac-toe board with trees/diecut/watercolour:

Following my AYSI team mate Amy's fabulous watercolour using this stamp set, I was itching to have a go at creating with a stamp called 'feels Like Home' that will be free with a £45 purchase in the upcoming Sale-A-Bration promotion. I though the Color Throwdown colours had a lovely Mediterranean feel to them, so I had visions of holiday isles as I watercoloured my simple scene. I added a sentiment cut with one of the label dies in another new set, Harvest Dies:

This set so reminds me of summer holidays abroad; such a distant memory, but whilst my own garden doesn't look anywhere near as Mediterranean, it is my happy place so will be just fine until we are able to truly travel far and wide again.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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 hope you are enjoying my sneak-peek shares - I can't believe I'm feeling so in the festive zone when it's so warm and sunny outside, but the temptation of a box of new goodies is too much to resist!

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