Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for an interesting 'fill in the blank' challenge from the lovely Heather H:

The colour I use least in my crafting - intriguing! I used the sketch over at Global Design Project #GDP442 for my layout this week and I made a card that features only two colours; can you guess which one I don't use very often?

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

Yes - it's Wild Wheat! I must confess I am not a fan of this one of last year's in-colours and actually don't use it very often at all so for today's card I decided that I would try something different and pair it with one of my most-used colours and all-time favourite, Night of Navy, to see if the colour combo would make Wild Wheat more appealing.

I used a Night of Navy card base and covered it with an entire panel of Wild Wheat - brave! I decided to add a diecut panel using the leaf die from the Gorgeous Garden Dies to the centre of my card. I've used these dies many times before and the eagle-eyed amongst you will realise that the whole die covers an entire card front, so you may be wondering how I managed to halve it to create my panel. It actually wasn't that tricky: I cut my Night of Navy Panel to size then aligned my die at the outside edge and partially diecut it towards the other end. I then removed the die and using a craft knife, I used a metal ruler and carefully cut away the edge of the loose pieces to create a narrow border on the other side of the panel. Yet another way to use these fabulous dies!

I added some Night of Navy twine and a simple gold heat-embossed sentiment from the 'Timeless Arrangements' stamp set, accented with a brass metallic dot to finish:

A piece of co-ordinating Wild Wheat in-colour DSP to decorate the flap of the envelope completes my card. Whilst I'm still not a fan of Wild Wheat, I must confess I do rather like this colour combo!

This is a great opportunity to remind you that the Gorgeous Garden bundle is just one of those featured in the monthly tutorials I create with my AYSI teamie, good friend and fellow demonstrator Jan Clothier. This tutorial contains lots more ideas and ways to use the Gorgeous Garden Dies and is yours for FREE when you purchase the Gorgeous Garden Dies from either Jan or myself. These dies are only available until the end of the month before they retire; they are currently almost half price at £24 for the pair - bargain! 

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 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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GORGEOUS GARDEN DIES (24.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

WILD WHEAT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

TIMELESS ARRANGEMENTS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)

VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous LeAnne to host this week and she has a pretty colour challenge for us to work with:

I love this colour combo! I used Jen M's great layout over at Freshly Made Sketches for my card and set to work to create another card using my Gorgeous Garden Dies - take a look:

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

Gorgeous Garden Dies - I would usually use this type of layout to create a popped-up panel, but I decided instead to create a frame to highlight just part of the floral Gorgeous Garden Die. I layered up my die as I've done on previous cards and added a few additional flowers and leaves to highlight the pinks. This is quite a neat way to use only part of the die; depending on the size of the aperture you use, you can get two cards out of one Gorgeous Garden panel too.

Did Someone Say FREE? - Love the Gorgeous Garden Dies? Today's post is a great opportunity to remind you that they feature in one of the current 'Join In With Joanne and Jan' tutorials that I have designed in collaboration with my good friend Jan Clothier:

This tutorial features 4 main projects with a couple of extras thrown in too featuring a range of techniques and of course the Gorgeous Garden Dies. The projects that feature in the tutorial are exclusive to the tutorial itself and you won't find them on our blogs or anywhere else. How can you get it? Well, if you purchase the Gorgeous Garden Dies from either Jan or myself, then the tutorial with photos and full detailed instructions will be yours FREE - it's as simple as that. 

Season Of Chic - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Seasons of Chic' stamp set; I inked it in two stages using my stamping platform so that I could highlight the word 'amazing'. This technique works really well with this stamp set - you can see the detail more closely below:

So pretty, right? I made this card for someone special who has been achieving great things of late and I wanted to let her know how amazing I think she is, so I'll be popping it in the post 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 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 tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GORGEOUS GARDEN DIES (40.00)	SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (26.00)	PURPLE FINE SHIMMER GEMS (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BUBBLE BATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BERRY BURST A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC GRAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a bright and colourful colour challenge chosen by the lovely Heather H:

I decided these bold colours called for a bold card so I grabbed my Gorgeous Garden Dies, specifically the floral one, and set to work - take a look at what I came up with:

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

Gorgeous Garden Florals - The Gorgeous Garden Dies are a pair of dies found on page 164 of the annual catalogue that can be easily overlooked, since they do not have a co-ordinating stamp set. That said, they are certainly not to be dismissed - they make fabulous cards! I featured the floral die on my card today and having created a tone-on-tone base in Mossy Meadow, I used the three additional colours to add bright pops of colour to the flowers themselves. 

Did someone say FREE? - I have mentioned it previously, but today's post is a great opportunity to remind you that the Gorgeous Garden Dies feature in the current 'Join In With Joanne and Jan' tutorial collection that I have designed in collaboration with my As You See It teamie and good friend Jan Clothier:

This tutorial features 4 main projects with a couple of extras thrown in too featuring a range of techniques and of course the Gorgeous Garden Dies. The projects that feature in the tutorial are exclusive to the tutorial itself and you won't find them on our blogs or anywhere else. How can you get it? Well, if you purchase the Gorgeous Garden Dies from either Jan or myself, then the tutorial with photos and full detailed instructions will be yours FREE - it's as simple as that. 

Celebrating Friends - I finished my card with a diecut sentiment from the 'Love For You' bundle, which seems appropriate since today is 'New Friend Appreciation Day' - isn't there a day for everything these days?! You can see it in more detail below, including the layering detail that I just love: 

I think these dies are an annual catalogue 'hidden gem' - they really are so versatile. I'm linking today's card up with the ladies over at Just Add Ink where their theme this week is 'Just Add ... Florals'.

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 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 colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

GORGEOUS GARDEN DIES (40.00)	LOVE FOR YOU DIES (ENGLISH) (30.00)	LOVE FOR YOU PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (19.00)	GLOSSY DOTS ASSORTMENT (7.50)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)
AROUND THE BEND DIES (31.00)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Felicita is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went down the right-hand column with red or green (I used both), patterned paper and diecut, and paired it with the fabulously festive colours over at Colour Inkspiration and made a card that is perfect for the 'add glitter' challenge over at Inkspirational - there's definitely plenty of that! I'm definitely in full-on Christmas mode still, so couldn't resist another Christmas card - or two! - take a look:

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

Gorgeous Garden - I decided to use a die that you possibly don't immediately consider as a Christmas one. The Gorgeous Garden Dies feature both a leaf coverplate and a floral coverplate die. The floral die reminds me of amarylllis flowers, that are often associated with the festive season, so I decided to create a card using red and green as my chosen colours to add to the Christmassy feel. 

All That Glitters - Whilst my card looks quite simple and straightforward, it actually showcases a neat technique. I covered a two-ply cardstock panel with an adhesive sheet, then placed the die on top and ran it through my diecutting machine so that the adhesive sheet was cut but the cardstock based remained intact. I then firstly removed the backing paper from the green sections, and having diecut another floral plate out of the mottled Shaded Spruce pattern in the Joy of Christmas designer series paper set, added the negative space green diecut pieces to the adhesive background. The pattern is subtle, but it adds just a little more interest than a plain green. Next, I removed the backing paper from the negative space of the flowers themselves, then sprinkled this with some Real Red glittered embossing powder that I found in my drawer. I heated it to set the powder, then finally removed the main piece of backing paper and add a double-layered diecut coverplate in Real Red. I just love the finished effect - check out the sparkle on the close up below:

 I also made a second version of this card, this time using pure fine red glitter. This wasn't Stampin' Up! branded glitter, so the colour is slightly deeper. I gives a slightly more textured finish - just as effective though:

The glitter just needs to be pressed firmly against the adhesive paper; any stray excess can be removed with the sticky end of your Take Your Pick tool. I know glitter is ecologically out-of-fashion right now (although there are eco-friendly versions available), but if you have old tubs of fine glitter hanging around like I do, this is a fun way to use it up. Here's another photo of both cards together so that you can see the subtle difference between the two:

Which one do you prefer? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Brightest Glow - Finally, the sentiment on the front of my card is from the oh-so-useful festive sentiment set in the annual catalogue called 'Brightest Glow', heat-embossed in white on Basic Black for a little more emphasis against that red and green background and added some black and white gingham ribbon too. I added another sentiment from the same set to the inside of my card:

So what do you think? I absolutely love these Gorgeous Garden Dies - I think they are one of the unsung heroes of the annual catalogue, since they are standalone dies. You will definitely be seeing more of them in the weeks and months to come - watch this space!

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. 

One last thing to mention: this will be my last challenge with the TicTacToe Challenge team. I have absolutely loved being a part of this team and will miss Felicita and everyone very much; moving into 2024 I will be reducing my design commitments to allow me to focus on other opportunities. A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

GORGEOUS GARDEN DIES (40.00)	BRIGHTEST GLOW CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
LABELS AGLOW DIES (31.00)	BLACK & WHITE 1/4" (6.4 MM) GINGHAM RIBBON (6.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)