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)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. We have a third Tuesday in the month so Patricia has designed a retro-double for us, featuring a retired colour palette and a sketch we've used previously: 

These colours were perfect for autumn so for my card today I decided to feature the 'Season of Chic' stamp set and co-ordinating Chic Dies - take a look:

I blended all three colours and added some autumnal stencilling using one of the Abundant Beauty Decorative Masks into the triangles. I tied some twine to define the triangle borders and added a couple of diecut leaves as a focal point:

Inking my sentiment in two colours added a little extra interest and completed my card.

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:

ABUNDANT BEAUTY DECORATIVE MASKS (10.00)	SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (26.00)	CHIC DIES (35.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	LINEN THREAD (4.75)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the fabulous Anne Marie to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for us to work with:

The weather here has become much more autumnal this week, so I found myself feeling inspired by the beautiful autumn wreath that is bottom left of the Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration photo and decided to recreate it with the Color Dare colours above (I used my closest colours for all 6) for a pretty autumnal card - take a look:

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

I chose a striped pattern from the Countryside Inn designer series paper pack to accentuate the lines of the horizontal panels of the sketch as my starting point, then added my leafy wreath that I diecut using the Country Wreath Dies, with some pumpkins in Smoky Slate and Very Vanilla added from the retired Seasonal Swirls die set:

A fussy cut sentiment from 'Season of Chic', a linen thread bow and a trio of speckled dots complete my card. I had a few leftover bits and pieces so used them to add a little additional decoration to the inside of my card:

I love the softness of the Very Vanilla with the mix of browns and I think they compliment the blues nicely 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 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'm planning on spending my day baking an gardening in equal measure! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

COUNTRY WREATHS DIES (37.00)	COUNTRYSIDE INN 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (26.00)	BOHO BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MISTY MOONLIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
PECAN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (10.00)	SMOKY SLATE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	LINEN THREAD (4.75)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	ADHESIVE-BACKED SPECKLED DOTS (7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Have you missed me? I have been rather absent from my blog in recent weeks - with the eldest of the James Juniors having left to begin university life, it hasn't left much time or opportunity for crafting. This week should see normal blog service resume, starting with this post! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Rachel has asked that we add three connected shapes and a sentiment:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I did just that - take a look:

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

Ordinarily this is the kind of sketch that would lead me to use three uniform shapes and probably a little designer paper too, but coming to my desk fresh for the first time in a couple of weeks, I went in a completely different direction! I decided to rotate the sketch through 90 degrees and use the vertical as a flower/grass stem, which I stencilled using a stencil made using one of the Meadow Dies onto a loose column of ombre colour that I created first using inks and blending brushes. I then added a simple stamped sentiment from the 'Season of Chic' stamp set and a trio of diecut butterflies that I diecut from Basic Black cardstock and popped up on dimensionals:

Before adding my butterflies, I used a dry brush to add a fine splatter of white frost shimmer paint to my ombre panel; it adds a subtle shimmer, albeit one that is difficult to see in the photographs. 

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.

Today's card was inspired by the challenge to create a silhouette over at SUO Challenges and the beautiful ombre night sky above the houses on the left of the Inkspirational inspo photo and I'm also linking up over at Just Add Ink where they are asking us to 'just add wildlife' - I think my butterflies qualify.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

MEADOW DIES (36.00)	SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (26.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (13.00)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (6.25)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BERRY BURST CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BLACKBERRY BLISS 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 the 'dreaded' speed challenge:

I know some of you dread the idea of creating a card in under 10 minutes, but with a little preparation it doesn't have to be tricky - take a look:

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

I knew that I would be using the shell stamps and dies from the Seasons of Chic stamp set and Chic Dies for my card today as they are my only current seashells, so I grabbed each of the dies and laid up each of the stamps and found a piece of the co-ordinating (retired) Texture Chic designer series paper to use for my background. This is the easiest way to get big design impact in the shortest possible time. Having found my sheet of paper, I pulled out the co-ordinating ink pads and cardstock (Petal Pink, Pebbled Path and an offcut of distressed gold), started my timer and set to work!

I cut a piece of designer paper to cover my entire cardbase, stamped a shell and diecut it along with three more in solid cardstock colours all in one go to save time, the stamped my sentiment onto a banner of Basic White and attached it to my cardfront, anchored with my shells. I added some clear Wink of Stella to my stamped shell and a sprinkling of basic pearls to complete my cardfront:

I did a quick timecheck and was doing so well, I even managed a quick stamped detail on the inside of my card within the allotted time:

And - stop the clock! I used a total of 7 minutes 59 seconds to create today's card - I managed to surprise myself at just how much time I had left over! My desk was a mess and I hadn't cleaned a single stamp, but it just goes to show if you need a card in a hurry, it can be done! The designer paper definitely does the heavy lifting on this card - the same background could be created using the stamps in the set, but it would take sooo much longer! I am also sharing today's beach-inspired card with thoughts of summer with the team over at Inkspirational where they are looking for seasonal cards.

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 speed stamping challenge, please time yourself and say in your post how long your card took to complete. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHIC DIES (35.00)	SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (26.00)	DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (4.75)	PEBBLED PATH A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)	PEBBLED PATH CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)
PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.50)	IRIDESCENT PEARL BASIC JEWELS (7.00)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Cecile has asked that we overlay an image and background element: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card. For my card today I used my snowflake and 'swoosh' stamps from the 'Season of Chic' stamp set along with some diecut snowflakes cut with the Chic Dies for some winter birthday or Christmas inspiration:

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

I added a simple border with my white chalk marker then stamped some tone-on-tone snowflakes stamped in Orchid Oasis to my cardfront, along with a swoosh in Starry Sky for contrast, and complimented this with a white heat-embossed sentiment and some white glimmer diecut snowflakes, trimmed with Opal Rounds:

I added some stamped snowflakes and a greeting to the inside of my card, and carried the detail over to the envelope too:

A card that works for a winter birthday or Christmas - and easy to make 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEASON OF CHIC BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (54.75)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (17.00)	OPAL ROUNDS (7.00)	ORCHID OASIS A4 CARDSTOCK (8.75)
ORCHID OASIS CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	STARRY SKY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (7.50)	REAL RED & WHITE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) GLIMMER PAPER (4.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the lovely Claire's turn to host this week and she has a seasonal clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Scarecrows and/or leaves! Well, I don't have any scarecrow stamps in my collection, so it was punch art (rarely a good choice for clean and simple cards!) or leaves! I have lots of leaf options and I thought the Stitched Greenery die would be perfect for a clean and simple card that celebrates leaves - take a look:

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

I used the neutral colour palette over at The Color Throwdown and made my Very Vanilla stitched leaves backplate the centrepiece of my card. I added a simple greeting from 'Season of Chic', anchored with a couple of leaves cut using the (retired) Stitched Leaves dies in kraft that I tied with a bow of (retired) thick Pool Party baker's twine. Check out that stitched detailing:

I love the simplicity of this card with the neutrals and the pop of aqua blue from the twine. A great seasonal notecard and so quick and easy to make 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 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; nothing special planned here today - if I can find a little crafty time I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STITCHED GREENERY DIE (£30.00)

KRAFT 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) PAPER PACK (£5.75)

VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£26.00)

SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Nancy has asked that we repeat an element and overlay a sentiment:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I went all autumnal and went for a quintet of leaves from the Season of Chic stamp set - take a look:

I stamped them in a selection of yellows and browns, then added my sentiment across the centre, having layered it onto a piece of Cajun Craze to tie in with the border:

I stamped today's card on Very Vanilla cardstock instead of my usual white; I often find I use Vanilla more that White for autumnal projects as I think it adds a nice warm tone that seems to fit with the season. And that's all there is to it - another example of #simplestamping with nothing more than stamps, ink and paper!

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 soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SEASON OF CHIC PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£26.00)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)	MANGO MELODY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)

Hurrah it's Friday! Today I have my card for the new challenge over at Festive Friday where the challenge that we are celebrating this week is 'International Owl Awareness Day' which is on Friday 5th August.

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 was tempted to go with an owl theme for obvious reasons, but my search for an inspirational quote took me in a completely direction. I ended up using inspirational quote, texture and brown and this is what I came up with:

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

Memories and More - The starting point for today's card was the quote on the front of my card. One of the best places to look for inspirational quotes is a Memories and More card pack - and that's where I found this one, in the Texture Chic card pack. I thought these words would make a lovely card for an anniversary, or a much-loved friend to let them know how much they mean to you. I added a stitched edge by running the card through my diecutting machine and then set about incorporating other elements from the Texture Chic Suite into my design.

Texture, Texture - There is an abundance of texture on today's card: the beautiful Texture chic designer paper is used for both a mat layer and for the base layer to my leaves (which I cut out of the middle of the mat layer to be economical!), then there is the stunning distressed gold speciality paper that I used for the top layer 'skeleton' leaves. I decided that my Soft Suede mat was too plain, so picking up the pattern on the quote card, I partially embossed it on opposing corners with one of the (retired) Checks and Dots embossing folders, then applied heat and stick powder and gold Gilded Leafing to these areas and the panel edges to add to tie in with the other gold elements. You do lose some of the definition of the embossing I think, but it does add tons of textural detail:

Some linen thread and Elegant Faceted Gems also add texture to the front of my card.

Seasons of Chic - Having used the Chic Dies to cut the leaves to decorate the front of my card, I used the co-ordinating 'Season of Chic' stamp set for my inside sentiment, along with some extras for decoration:

I rarely make this sort of card, which is quite shabby chic in it's look and feel and contrasts to my usual clean and layered style, but it just sort of evolved and I'm actually quite happy with how it turned out; it's always fun to step out of one's comfort zone once in a while!

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:

SEASON OF CHIC BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£54.75)	TEXTURE CHIC MEMORIES & MORE (£9.50)	DISTRESSED GOLD 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PAPER (£4.75)	TEXTURE CHIC 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	SOFT SUEDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.75)	SOFT SUEDE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.50)
STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	HEAT & STICK POWDER (£5.75)	GILDED LEAFING (£8.50)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)