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

I am still in festive card making mode, so thought I would use these colours for a card to play along with the 'Christmas' theme over at Inspire.Create and the the 'Christmas Animals (with hats)' theme over at Double D Challenges and create another card using the 'Festive & Fun' stamp set - take a look:

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

I used a Melon Mambo card base and added a strip of Real Red cardstock that I had added some strips of (retired) red glimmer paper to, then set about creating my Christmas tag. I decided to use the fun image of the rhino pulling a sleigh full of Christmas gifts and robins, and created my tag by just snipping off the corners of my rectangle - no die required! I added just a hint of the three main challenge colours to my design using my Stampin' Blends markers; slightly unconventional, but I think it works?

 I added a trio of enamel dots and a sentiment fussy cut from the 'Merry Christmas To You' stamp set, before incorporating my black and white with my trusty gingham ribbon, wrapped around the card and tied to my tag with a bow. Such a bold colour scheme was asking for a similarly bold sentiment inside my card too:

What do you think? I really rather like these colours for a Christmas card - it's fun to ring the changes with an unconventional colour palette. Are you done with your Christmas card making yet? I've written most of mine now, so any more Christmas makes will be heading into the 2024 pile!

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:

This will be our last Paper Players challenge of the year, and is also the time when we say goodbye to our wonderful 2023 guest designers, Suzy, Fran and Tara. Ladies you have been amazing - we will miss you! We have some exciting new guests lined up for 2024, so keep an eye out on The Paper Players blog for a future announcement!

Enjoy your day; I am recovering from the festivities of last night's office Christmas party (Jason's, not mine!) and we are collecting the eldest of the James Juniors from university, having just completed her first term - that just flew by! I will also be packing for a last minute pre-Christmas vacation - more on that another time! So all in all, a busy day. I'll be back soon with another project but until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FESTIVE & FUN CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (25.00)	JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)	BLACK & WHITE 1/4" (6.4 MM) GINGHAM RIBBON (6.75)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	TAHITIAN TIDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (9.50)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	MORE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (24.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a festive theme challenge chosen by me:

Christmas! Yes, with 38 days until the big day, I am in full-on festive card making mode so I thought it would make the perfect for theme for our challenge this week. I created two versions of the same card for this week's challenge - take a look at the first one:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Following our vellum challenge here at As You See It a little while ago, I've found myself experimenting more and more with vellum. I had the idea to use a vellum diecut panel to showcase the bold sentiments in the 'Joy To You' stamp set, overlaid onto a super shiny, sparkly background in festive colours, that allowed the background to remain visible. I stamped the largest sentiment and heat-embossed it in gold on a panel cut with the Scalloped Contour Dies, and added this to a base onto which I glued strips of red, green and gold foil and red and gold glimmer paper. I adhered the vellum panel with dimensionals strategically placed behind the widest letters and a trio of gold pearls. Check out the sparkle:

I liked this card so much, I created a second, landscaped version using another of the sentiments in the set, in a silver and blue colourway:

This version uses a slightly smaller sentiment and scalloped die but the principles are them same - and still so sparkly!

I used some retired coloured foils that I had in my stash and paired them with the adhesive-backed gold and silver glimmer paper - did you know that this is available as an online exclusive product? So useful for your festive projects - there is also a three pack of coloured glimmer papers available online. YA design that's great for using up scraps and strips leftover from other projects, you could also make a less traditional version using the pink and green foils that are featured in the current mini catalogue. 

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. 

What do think - does this simple design pack a festive punch? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)

SILVER & GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) ADHESIVE-BACKED GLIMMER PAPER (6.75)

BLOOMING PEARLS (7.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a festive colour challenge for us to work with:

Red, green and gold is one of my favourite festive colour combinations so I wanted to see what you would all make with it this week. You can add any other colour of your choice; for today's card I added a little Old Olive and using Jen M's square layout over at Freshly Made Sketches made a traditional Christmas card to add to my growing stash - take a look:

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

The sketch layout was perfect to showcase a large panel of designer series paper, so I chose a vibrant holly pattern from the Joy of Christmas paper pack. I used the slanted panel to feature my bold sentiment from the 'Joy To You' stamp set, which I stamped in Real Red onto a white panel cut with one of the Scalloped Contour Dies to which I added a holly and pine diecut embellishment:

I wrapped my panel of DSP with some gold simple elegant trim (great for saving bulk on cards that need to be mailed at this time of year) and added a bow to my foliage to complete my card. This card actually came together quite quickly once I'd decided on my elements; the paper does much of the hard work with such a busy pattern, it really doesn't need much else. So what will you make with this week's colour combination? Whilst these colours are my festive favourites, you don't have to make a Christmas project with them - the choice is yours!

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 had a super busy day yesterday, with a flying overnight visit for my university-loving daughter and a hockey match for the youngest of the James Juniors. My laundry service has gone into overdrive once more, so today will be spent ironing and baking and hopefully squeezing in a little crafting to finish a few projects that are in bits on my desk. I'm usually one of those people that makes one thing at a time, but since I've had to snatch a quick 30 minutes here and there over the last couple of days, I've started several things and am yet to finish a single one! Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow to share one of them. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	JOY OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	CHRISTMAS CLASSICS DIES (35.00)	SCALLOPED CONTOURS DIES (33.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

Today I'm sharing a card using Jen T's fabulous layout over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

This is a sketch with so many possibilities! I decided to make a contemporary Christmas card using one of the Christmas tree designs in the Merry Bold & Bright designer series paper pack - take a look:

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

I'm also playing along with my friends at Just Us Girls again this week who have my favourite festive colour combo, red and green, as their inspiration this week. I would ordinarily go with something much more traditional, maybe Real Red and Shaded Spruce (my all-time favourite festive combo!) however the contemporary Christmas tree design in the Merry Bold and Bright designer series paper pack changes things up and pairs Lemon Lime Twist with Poppy Parade and a little white. My card was actually designed around the sentiment in the first instance, as I wanted something that would build across the three strips of the sketch and I love the way the text on the 'Joy to You' stamps gets bolder as it builds. I used both retired Stitched Stars Dies and Stitched Triangle Dies to create my accent trees; you could punch these but I like the addition of the stitched detail:

An unusual colour combination, but I actually rather like it; so much so I made two cards whilst I was at it! Here's a peek at the inside too where I added another of the stamps from the 'Joy To You' set and added a leftover strip of paper to decorate:

Perhaps this one needs a warning on the envelope to wear sunglasses on opening!!

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; I'm having a day of catching up with lots of little jobs today - the sun is shining, so I'm feeling motivated! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOY TO YOU CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)

MERRY BOLD & BRIGHT 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)

LEMON LIME TWIST A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)

POPPY PARADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)