Today I'm sharing a card that I made with the leftovers of this card that I just haven't gotten around to sharing yet - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

This is a smaller, cleaner version of my original card, that uses the same holly label and leaves and berries cut from the piece of ink blended cardstock I made for my original project. I added some silver twine too to balance my design:

And of course I could resist some variegated holly on the inside and outside of the envelope too:

I really love the Leaves of Holly bundle and I'm so sad that it isn't carrying over; I will be holding on to my set for sure. 

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 have made and sent all my Christmas cards for this year and yesterday took receipt of my first pre-order from the new Stampin' Up! January -April catalogue. I can't promise this means an end to festive shares here, but I am excited to be crafting with new things! Today sees the first of the James Juniors to finish school for the Christmas break, with the second one finishing tomorrow, so I will be entering a slightly more 'relaxed' period of blogging over the next couple of weeks. Rest assured though there will be plenty going on and I have some very exciting things planned for 2023. I will be back soon with more to share; meanwhile, enjoy your day and until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	REAL RED & WHITE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (4.75)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (9.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)	STARRY SKY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)

Today I spent the day making for a few cards for upcoming posts and took the opportunity to make an extra one to share with you today, inspired by the traditional festive Christmas colours over at Just Us Girls and the 'blank canvas' over at Inspire.Create:

I've been wanting to use the Leaves of Holly bundle in more traditional Christmas colours and Carol's colour palette gave me the perfect opportunity - take a look:

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

Boughs of Holly - Whilst this card may look complex at first glance, with such a mix of reds and greens, you might actually be surprised to know that the only stamping on the outside of my card is the sentiment; both the red/green background panel and the green of the holly leaves and the red of the berries have all been cut from the Boughs of Holly designer series paper. The reverse sides of the papers in this pack have some beautiful watercolour-effect backgrounds, so I chose one incorporating a mix of reds and green for the background panel and then two others, one red and one green, for the back pieces of my holly and berries. I love the variagated tones that you can see through the gold upper layers and all achieved with minimal effort - bonus!

Touches of Gold - I really wanted the gold to have a starring role on this card so the distressed gold specialty paper was the obvious choice. I used it for the main label and cut an extra holly leaf to slot behind - the effect of the distressing is so beautiful and I think compliments the colours beautifully:

I added a simple label sentiment so as not to detract from the label detail and added some gold twine trim and brushed gold enamel dots to complete the look. What do you think - do you prefer the traditional or contemporary look with these holly leaves? Do leave me a comment below - I would love to hear your thoughts.

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 evening; hockey training was cancelled this evening due to the torrential rain that continues to fall here - and I am thankful to be wrapped up warm inside! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	BOUGHS OF HOLLY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.25)	DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (4.75)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (8.50)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.75)

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

I thought the icy colours of blue, silver and white would make a pretty Christmas card so I grabbed my Leaves of Holly bundle and used Linda's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches for my layout (I flipped the main images to suit the shape of my main holly label die) and set to work - take a look at what I came up with:

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

I decided to layer a couple of the main holly labels from the Holly Berry Dies, one in dark metallic silver and one in white that I stamped my main greeting on and overlaid them having turned the bottom one through 180 degrees. I added in a selection of holly leaves and foliage behind each, cut from a combination of silver foil and white glimmer paper and interspersed with some blue ones. I created my own piece of variegated blue cardstock by adding three blue inks randomly to a sheet of whisper white cardstock and then diecut a selection of solid and outline leaves from this, overstamping some in Starry Sky ink too - I just love the effect! I added some silver twine and a selection of opal rounds and blue faceted enamel dots to my Starry Sky cardbase, that I had inked around the edges and added some white ink splatters to as a finishing touch:

Aren't those holly leaves just so pretty? I added a second smaller label towards the bottom of my card as per the sketch for the second part of my sentiment - this set has some great combination sentiments which work well with this layout. I also used a larger A5 card base to accommodate my design; I like having a few special, larger cards for close friends and family members at this time of year and this design works perfectly.

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. 

How do this week's colours inspire you? I'd love to know what you think of today's non-traditional holly leaves card - do leave me a comment below and share your thoughts.

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 spent all day yesterday at the side of the hockey pitch and this morning I'm taking the youngest of the James Juniors to participate in his school army cadets Remembrance Day parade and service - always a spectacular sight and such an important duty, 'lest we forget'. I'll be back tomorrow with another project using some of the leftover pieces from today, so stay tuned. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	REAL RED & WHITE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (4.75)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (7.00)	OPAL ROUNDS (7.00)	SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (9.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)
STARRY SKY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. It's November and time for a new hostess! The lovely Cecile is at the helm this month and our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I broke out a set I've had since I did my seasonal catalogue pre-order but had yet to see ink - the Leaves of Holly Bundle. It was definitely time to change that - this is what I came up with:

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

I loved the detailing on the stamps and dies in the Leaves of Holly bundle and today's card showcases the layered label that is included in the set. I created a Mint Macaron blended background so that it would highlight the detail, adding some splatters of (retired) frosted white shimmer paint, and having added ink to the leaves and berries to deepen the colour, placed them behind the white diecut elements:

I also stamped my sentiment in Rich Razzleberry instead of black for an added pop of colour - TGIF Challenges are featuring non-black stamping this week but this really wasn't tricky for me - I think on a clean and simple card a coloured sentiment can work really well. How about you - do you often substitute a coloured inked sentiment in lieu of a black one? Do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LEAVES OF HOLLY BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (48.50)	PEAR PIZZAZZ A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	MINT MACARON CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	BLENDING BRUSHES (11.75)