I have a quick post to share I card I made to day to play along with a few challenges using a stamp set that I have yet to break the seal on. I used Jen T's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches the colours at Hand Stamped Sentiments. I'm also playing along over at Addicted To CAS where the codeword is SNOW:

I've had the Yuletide Village stamp a little while but not had the opportunity to use it until now. I thought it would be perfect for this challenge - take a look:

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

I stamped the tree at the front, then masked it and stamped my brick wall, before then masking both and stamping my church. I then masked the church too and added a hint of Balmy Blue sky using ink and a blending brush, before adding just a hint of colour elsewhere with my Stampin' Blends. I added a few snowflakes to the sky with a white gel pen and covered the snowy areas with a liberal dose of clear Wink of Stella:

This is quite difficult to see in the photos, but is SO sparkly in real life! I added a thin Cherry Cobbler border and a two-tone sentiment from 'Sophisticated Sled' to complete my card. I had so much fun creating this card and can't wait to make a whole village next time! 

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; I'll be back tomorrow with another project for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

YULETIDE VILLAGE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (18.00)	SOPHISTICATED SLED PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (23.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	WINK OF STELLA GLITTER BRUSH (8.50)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	BALMY BLUE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	CHERRY COBBLER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	GRAY GRANITE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)	GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BLENDING BRUSHES (14.00)

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

Bright colours may not be considered traditional for a Christmas card, but I am on a roll and so that is my starting point for everything currently! I decided the best way to highlight each of these was to balance it with lots of white and a touch of festive silver - take a look:

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

I've chosen to feature the ice skates and wreath from the Sophisticated Sled bundle - one of my favourite Online Exclusives bundle for the festive season. I love both the sled and the ice skates in this set - both items that I've never owned in my craft collection previously. I've used the sled on a couple of cards previously (you can see those cards here and here) but for today's card I wanted to feature the ice skates.

These skates are so cute; they have separate diecuts for the blades and boots and a neat slit into which you can insert the separate diecut laces - so clever. I decided to add four pairs of skates, each with a different coloured pair of laces. In order to accommodate 4 pairs, I decided to use a slimline design. I created a mat layer comprising a panel of each of the 4 colours, then added a white panel embossed with the Snowflake Sky embossing folder (you can see this detail more clearly on the photo below). Whilst this is a narrow embossing folder, it's easy to emboss one half of the panel then move the cardstock along and emboss the other half to achieve a continuous background.

I hung each pair of skates from a silver-on-white heat-embossed wreath, decorated with clear basic rhinestones for a little added sparkle. I finished each wreath with a large co-ordinating bow (this is from the retired Pierced Blooms Dies). You can see the detail of the individual elements that make up the wreath and skates in the close-up below:

I added a simple sentiment, also from the 'Sophisticated Sled' stamp set to the bottom corner of my card base, to complete my card. The diecutting on this card took a little while, but I love the finished card - it was worth it!

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 spending mine attending more of the virtual #Stampin' Up! Backstage@Home2024 event - a training event for leaders with lots to be learned. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SOPHISTICATED SLED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	SNOWFLAKE SKY 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (10.25)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (5.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)
SILVER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	GORGEOUS GRAPE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	MELON MAMBO A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)

Today I'm sharing a card that I made for the current clean and simple challenge over at Addicted to CAS where the code word is WOOD:

So many ways to interpret this code word; as I'm still very much in the festive cardmaking zone, I decided to make another one, this time featuring the stamped sled from 'Sophisticated Sled', one of my current favourite Online Exclusives - take a look:

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

I used the diecut sled previously on these cards, but thought that I would use the stamped sled for today's clean and simple version and use my Blends markers to achieve a realistic wooden effect on the slats - here's a close look:

I decorated my sled with a simple ribbon-tied bunch of berries for a little added festive colour and stamped my sentiment directly onto my white cardbase. I love the look of this traditional sled - so many of those you see today are made from brightly coloured plastic, this sled is a real touch of festive nostalgia for the way things used to be.

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:

SOPHISTICATED SLED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (7.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (10.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	SUMMER SPLASH STAMPIN’ BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)
STAMPIN’ BLENDS MEDIUM DEEP COMBO (10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (10.25)

Happy Monday everyone! Today I'm sharing a card that I made using Karren's fabulous sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week:

I loved Karen's layout and loved the idea of featuring a tag, although when it came down to it I wanted to play with a Christmas bundle I hadn't yet opened and that tag shape became a sled - take a look:

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

There are some fabulous festive sets in the Online Exclusives section of the Stampin' Up! online store and the Sophisticated Sled bundle is definitely one of my favourites so I was excited to break it out for the first time today. I used a gold/vanilla pattern from the Season of Elegance specialty designer series paper to create my split background, bordered with a strip of gold foil, before adding my diecut sled. I used Cherry Cobbler for my sled base and cut the slats out of a piece of dark Country Woods designer series paper to emphasise the embossed woodgrain for a realistic finish - you can see the textural detail more closely below: 

Some greenery and berries, a gold twine bow and a simple gold heat-embossed sentiment complete my card. Having cut a panel of the Season of Elegance paper across the diagonal for my first card, I decided to make a second one with the remaining DSP for the lower portion of the card and some vanilla berries on my greenery:

Here's a photo of both cards together; my favourite is still the first one, but what do you think - do you have a favourite? 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. 

Enjoy your evening; I have to dash - I need to get my card linked up! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SOPHISTICATED SLED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (50.25)	SEASON OF ELEGANCE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (16.00)	COUNTRY WOODS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (11.75)	CHERRY COBBLER & PEARL ADHESIVE-BACKED BERRIES (8.50)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (4.75)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (13.00)
CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	OLD OLIVE A4 CARDSTOCK (10.75)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (10.25)	METALLICS WOW! EMBOSSING POWDER (20.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (9.00)