Happy Wednesday everyone! First things first - remember today is FREE SHIPPING at Stampin' Up! so the perfect time to pick up those last few Christmas gifts! You have until 11pm this evening UK time, so don't delay!

Now onto today's card, which was inspired by the current sketch over at Just Add Ink and is also perfect for the festive rainbow challenge over at - where else but The Rainbow Challenge:

I can't resist a good sketch and this one gave me the perfect opportunity to go all-out with a clean and simple yet unconventionally coloured Christmas card - take a look:

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

Giving Gifts Dies - I used the snowflake die in the Giving Gifts Die set to create my negative aperture border on today's card by cutting one end, then turning the die through 180 degrees and lining up the edges then cutting a second time, to give the single snowflake border panel. This is a great way to use this die on something other than a tag - it's always handy to be able to extend the use of an item. Unfortunately since I wrote today's post the dies are now no longer available in the UK; the lists are changing daily though and there are some things where stock of retiring items is still on route to the warehouse, so if you like them keep checking back.

Wonderful Snowflakes - I balanced my snowflake border with one of the Wonderful Snowflakes pre-diecut pieces that I trimmed to mirror the shape of the sketch element and added a simple 'Let It Snow' sentiment to tie both elements together. I used the snippet of snowflake I cut off to decorate the inside of my card:

Rainbow Ombre - My unconventional colour scheme today is taken from the rainbow ombre glimmer paper I used beneath the negative space of my snowflake border. I picked out the Bermuda Bay for my card base; I love the way the deep turquoise highlights the iridescent shine of the diecut snowflake and white embossed sentiment. I also picked out some of the white iridescent faceted gems from the From My Heart Faceted Gems pot to highlight the centres of the snowflakes in my border and used a (retired) sparkly blue one to centre my white snowflake.

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:

WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	SNOWMAN SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
FROM MY HEART FACETED GEMS (£5.50)

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

I used the sketch over at Global Design Project for my layout (I rotated it through 180 degrees) and was also inspired by the snowman and the blue and white winter sentiment over at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week for my clean and simple snow card - take a look:

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

I used the Oh So Ombre free Sale-A-Bration paper as the base for my card and heat-embossed the cute skyward-looking snowman onto the ombre paper in white, adding a little extra white with a chalk marker. I added my sentiment, finishing with the word 'snow' made out of the Playful Alphabet letters in white and replacing the 'o' with a glittery white glimmer paper snowflake. Finally I added a sprinkling of sequins from a selection of mixes in my stash amongst the falling snow:

I think I might add this card to next year's Christmas card stash - not that it ever snows here in the UK at Christmas, much to the disappointment of the James Juniors who continue to live in hope! We had the tiniest dusting yesterday morning first thing but it didn't hang around, and we are forecast a return to drizzle and grey skies by today! Hope my little snowman brings some cheer your way in lieu of some sunshine.

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:

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; nothing much happening here this weekend as we continue to endure lockdown. I am enjoying having more time to read and build Lego and as a family we seem to have rediscovered chess this past week as we finished watching 'The Queen's Gambit' on Netflix. If you haven't seen it, I can highly recommend it. And you can't bit a game of chess for immersive distraction! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SNOWMAN SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	PLAYFUL ALPHABET DIES (£32.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	WHITE STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	BERMUDA BAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
WHITE STAMPIN' CHALK MARKER (£3.25)	OH SO OMBRE 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£0.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have a couple of cards for you - hence my somewhat random blog title! The first for the current colour challenge over at Color Throwdown, using the sketch over at TGIF Challenges and with a stamp and embossed background that also fits the bill over at Christmas Kickstart who are partnering with a new-to-me challenge Squash It this time around:

That is a fairly hefty set of linkups, but when you look at my card it's super easy to see how each and every one inspired my project - take a look:

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

Snowman Season - When I saw those Color Throwdown colours, I immediately thought 'snowman' and was delighted that they gave me an excuse to break out one of my much-loved stamp sets from last year, 'Snowman Season'. This set was carried over into the annual catalogue, but hasn't seen any love from me yet this season, with so many new stamp sets taking precedence! Today's card rectifies that though - how adorable is this chap, heat embossed in silver and carefully coloured with Pool Party and Poppy Parade Blends? 

Oval Centrepiece - The sketch over at #TGIFC290 was just perfect to showcase my snowman and it also encouraged me to use another shape I don't naturally gravitate towards - ovals! I went with a stitched oval to frame my snowman and added a Poppy Parade scallop-edged oval background mat, to allow it to pop against the Pool Party embossed background. 

Winter Snow - Lastly, to the embossed background! I ran my Pool Party layer through Stampin' Up!'s Winter Snow embossing folder to create a pretty background of delicately embossed snowflakes, which I felt complimented my snowman perfectly. Check out the detail on the angled shot below:

I love that something old can pair so well with something new - it's almost as if they were meant for each other!

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. 

And for my second card today I am playing along with this week's Freshly Made Sketches challenge and the photo inspiration over at Just Add Ink:

Karren's FMS sketch is a real go-to for me (if you search my blog you'll see lots of cards with this layout) so I thought I would challenge myself to rotate the sketch and work with it in the horizontal orientation and, inspired by those brightly coloured trees in the JAI photo, I created an unconventionally coloured Christmas card, again pairing something old with something new - take a look:

Here's the lowdown on this card:

Pine Tree Punch - I decided to use my Pine Tree Punch to create some bold block-colour Christmas trees, and went with a layered white background to allow the colours to really pop. I used a single (retired) enamel star in an alternating colour to top each one.

Plaid Tidings - In the absence of any dotty paper like the background trees in the inspiration photo, I decided to take inspiration for my bright colour combination from the trio of colours featured in my chosen design of Plaid Tidings designer series paper: Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Seaside Spray. I love that this paper pack contains some unusual plaid colours and whilst unconventional, I like the effect of these colourful trees.

Banner Year Sentiments - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Banner Year' sentiment set, embellished with a silver-painted (retired) wooden star from my stash, and finishes inside my card as follows:

I really like the way this card turned out - unconventional colours on Christmas cards really change things up and I'm pleased I managed to stretch my use of this great layout 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. 

That's me done for today! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - Card 1:

SNOWMAN SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	LAYERING OVALS DIES (£33.00)	WINTER SNOW EMBOSSING FOLDER (£7.00)	POPPY PARADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)
POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	POOL PARTY STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SILVER STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - Card 2:

PINE TREE PUNCH (£17.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
MELON MAMBO CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	BANNER YEAR PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the lovely Laurie to host this week and she has a fun theme challenge for you to work with:

I have a fancy card to share with you today that is perfect to give someone special for the festive season - take a look:

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

A Card In A Box - Is it a gift? Is it a card? I guess it's a little of both! When closed it looks like a gift box, but undo the ribbon and the top and bottom of the box separate to reveal an accordion-style expanding card:

I made a holly-themed 'card in a box' project at my October Creative Escapes Craft Retreat using the Christmas Gleaming Stamp Set and made a few other versions to show the attendees how they could use the same concept using other papers and stamp sets - this is one of them. They are quite straightforward to make and rather addictive; I've had lots of photos from my retreat weekend attendees after the event showing me more examples of ones they've created too, so it must be catching! One of my top tips when making this type of card is to use temporary adhesive or a couple of glue dots to hold the last panel in place so that you can remove it to write your message to the recipient before gluing it in place; this is much easier than trying to write it when it's already in the box.

Let It Snow - I used the 'Let It Snow' papers for the accordion-fold of my card and the letters that spell out 'snow', which I diecut using the Hand-Lettered Prose dies and I used the adorable Let It Snow Embellishment Kit to dress up the snowman on the front of my box - how cute are those little felt accessories?!

Snowman Season - The sentiment on the front and inside my card are from the 'Snowman Season' stamp set. The 'Let It Snow' stamp was perfect for a partial stamp to then finish the sentiment with the diecut letter panels. I also used the snowflakes in the stamp set with some Stampin' Glitter to add some sparkle to each of the Coastal Cabana panels and a snowman on the first panel that I coloured with co-ordinating Stampin' Blends markers:

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. 

I'm also linking today's project up with the current fancy fold challenge over at Inspire Create.

Before you reach for your ink and papers, check out what our amazing team has created to inspire you this week:

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; as it's the first of December we are going to begin decorating the house for Christmas today, much to the children's delight! Especially as we have a couple of extra Christmas trees and some new rainbow baubles too. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Let It Snow Embellishment Kit (£10.25)	Snowman Season Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£17.00)	Snowman Builder Punch (£17.00)	Hand-Lettered Prose Dies (£35.00)	Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)
Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (£5.50)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Shaded Spruce A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Cotton Ribbon (£6.50)

Today marks the start of a busy week with the first of my monthly classes, so I've a quick post to share a couple of cards inspired by the CAS Colours and Sketches challenge this week where it's a double featuring both a sketch and colours:

This is a great sketch and it just so happens that I still have two of these three retired colours, so substituting the current Balmy Blue for Bashful Blue I set to work and came up with a couple of cards using my favourite 'Snowman Season' stamp set. Here's the first one that I created for the challenge:

A little bit of snowflake tone-on-tone background stamping and a stamped image, coloured with a combination of Blends and Stampin' Write markers and a blender pen, along with a sentiment banner all from the same stamp set and anchored with a couple of snowflakes cut using the Seasonal Layers dies to finish my card. I liked this card so much I created a slightly stepped-up version that flipped the base and mat colours around and included a swirly embossed layer to my card base, along with a retired snowflake embellishment:

Honestly, I'm not sure which one I prefer - here's a photo of them both together, do feel free to leave me a comment below with which one gets your top vote!

Here is the visual summary of the key current 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. 

Right that's all from me today - I still have a few things to do before I rest up for the evening so must dash! Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with more news and another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Snowman Season Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£17.00)	Swirls & Curls Embossing Folder (£7.00)	Balmy Blue Stampin' Blends Combo Pack (£8.50)	Stitched Rectangle Dies (£33.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Seasonal Layers Dies (£31.00)

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

There were so many ways to go with this sketch - in the end I decided to 'Let It Snow' - in a big way! Take a look:

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

My card today is a celebration of the wintery-themed Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper. This collection of cute snowmenwas at the top of my Christmas shopping list; my regular readers know how much I love DSP, and today's card uses not one, not two, not three, but four - yes four! - of the patterns in the pack. I used three of the non-glittery patterns for the layers (it was so hard not to use the sparkly designs on the reverse!) and fussy cut a glittery snowman for my corner embellishment from the fourth (I added some arms using the Snowman Builder Punch).

I added a diecut from 'Word Wishes' for the sentiment on the front of my card, although have a slight confession to make: this was supposed to be red glimmer paper for a touch of festive sparkle to compliment my glittery snowman, however could I find mine anywhere in my crafting square mile? Not a chance! I know I have some, but I couldn't find it anywhere so I resorted to some red foil instead. 

My card doesn't have a stitch of stamping on the front, although I did add a sprinkling of snowflakes and a sentiment from the 'Snowman Season' stamp set on the inside:

I love the combination of cool greens, white and red - it reminds me of candy canes - that feature in this paper pack and one thing is for sure: those glittery snowmen really are as sweet as sugar, and as sparkly 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:

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; today marks the official start of winter and with that an extra hour in bed - yay! My day will be a quiet one and hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Snowman Builder Punch (£17.00)	Word Wishes Dies (£33.00)	Real Red Glimmer Paper (£4.75)
Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I'm here with a Christmas card to start the week as I've a card for a new-to-me challenge called Christmas Kickstart (thank you Vicky for sharing this one!) that also uses the current Fab Friday sketch: 

The theme over at Christmas Quickstart is to create a card inspired by the challenge blog header. The moment I saw it I knew it would give me the opportunity to use some of the gorgeous designer paper in my favourite suite in the new Stampin' Up! Autumn-Winter catalogue, Let It Snow - take a look:

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

Let It Snow - The weather outside might be frightful, but crafting is so delightful with the fun 'Let It Snow' themed paper. With basic patterns on one side, the other side has collections of glittery snowmen and winter images - this paper is just too cute for words! I used a pattern of tiny snowmen and women in comical poses to cover the whole of the front of my card, along with a striped strip from the reverse of one of the other sheets offset behind my sentiment. 

Snowman Season - My sentiment is from the co-ordinating 'Snowman Season' stamp set. Sentiment aside, the only other stamping is a sentiment and stamped image inside my card and another to decorate the envelope - this card really is all about the paper! 

Marvellous Mittens - I decided that instead of the bow in the sketch, I would add a pair of felt mittens to my card as a final embellishment; whilst mittens feature elsewhere on other dsp patterns in this set, none of my tiny snowmen are wearing them - but given that the snowman in the Christmas Kiickstart header is sporting a pair in festive red, I figured if they were good enough for him they would work on my card too! I added some string to keep them together, just like the ones my children used to have when they were younger to prevent them from losing them; did you do this for your children 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; I have my first stamp class of the month and a mountain of ironing to get through today so mine will be a busy one, along with all of the extra-curricular activities that the James Juniors participating in being back on in full today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Snowman Season Photopolymer Stamp Set (En) (£17.00)	Let It Snow Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Let It Snow Embellishment Kit (£10.25)	Real Red A4 Cardstock (£8.25)	Coastal Cabana A4 Cardstock (£8.25)
Shaded Spruce Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Whisper White Solid Baker's Twine (£3.25)