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 since it's the fifth Sunday of the month she has a bonus tic-tac-toe board challenge for us to work with:

I went across the middle of the board with patterned paper/diecut/enamel dots and used the layout over at Sketch Saturday to showcase another of the beautiful autumn leaf papers in the All About Autumn paper pack - take a look:

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

I cut a slanted banner of the design featuring autumnal horse chestnut leaves and added it to my Cajun Craze card base. I used a sentiment from the retired stamp set 'Lighthearted Leaves', an old favourite of mine, as it seemed to fit the theme of my card perfectly:

I added a couple of narrow strips of copper foil and a vellum leaf accent (cut using my retired Stitched Leaves Dies) for a little added texture and a trio of copper enamel dots to complete my card. 

All in all pretty simple, but a lovely celebration of autumn leaves - so I'm sharing with the ladies over at TGIF Challenges 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 hope you all enjoyed the extra hour in bed - I will be using my extra time today to do some gardening! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ALL ABOUT AUTUMN 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (14.00)

STYLISH SHAPES DIES (28.00)

BRUSHED METALLIC ADHESIVE BACKED DOTS (8.50)

VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (9.50)

EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (8.50)

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)

Happy Monday everyone! I have a busy week as I am playing catch up again now that the James Juniors are back at school following their half term break, so this is a quick post from me today. I'm sharing a card that uses Jen T's great sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches, this week's Color Throwdown colours and the theme over at Just Us Girls where they are playing with leaves:

I was intrigued by Jen's sketch this week and loved the idea of three squares on a slimline card. When you look at my card you will think I made it in super-quick time - and I did, but only after an exponential amount of crafty procrastination and numerous failed attempts! Here's what I ended up with:

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

Yes - a simple trio of my favourite stitched leaves, inset into a trio of stitched squares and switched about for some mix-and-match autumn colour, with a sentiment from the 'Sparkle of the Season' stamp set. Why so difficult? Well, I couldn't decided between leaves, snowflakes, trees ... the list goes on! Then I decided I wanted to use the larger sycamore-style leaf, but try as I might I couldn't use three and create a slimline that would fit in an envelope for posting. I also fiddled with my Stitched Greenery Die - and failed to successfully adapt it for a long slimline card so gave that up as a bad job. the moral of the story? If in doubt, simple is best! Sometimes trying to complicate things just doesn't pay. Then to top it all, I struggled to get my card to lie flat for photographing - so if you're looking at it and can see a slight distortion, I'm afraid that's why. I also added a little stamping to the inside of my card:

I hope you like today's card and have enjoyed my tale of the trials of creating it! I love the finished result those - sometimes stitched dies really are all you need!

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 off to grab a quick sandwich before I head back out on my second school run of today. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SPARKLE OF THE SEASON PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PUMPKIN PIE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely Vicky is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went across the centre of the board this week with Diecuts/Leaves/CAS and paired with the gorgeous autumnal colours over at TGIF Challenges for a simple leafy thank you  - take a look:

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

I used my Stitched Greenery Die to add interest to my background, then added a trio of autumnal leaves in the TGIF Challenge colours cut using my Stitched Leaves Dies - a worthy annual catalogue carryover from last year’s seasonal catalogue and I was delighted to get these back out again for this card. I tied them with a linen thread bow and added a simple ’thank you’ sentiment that is actually from the ’Sweet Ice Cream’ stamp set, but is great for a fussy cut greeting - just the right size:

As you can see, today’s card is definitely all about the stitching - and not a needle and thread in sight!

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; so my laptop has officially died and is beyond recovery, hence no blog post yesterday and there probably won’t be one tomorrow either. Whilst I’ve still got an iPad and phone at my disposal, I really need the keyboard and software on my laptop to work efficiently, as well as screen real estate - my eyesight cannot cope with these teeny, tiny screens for any length of time! A new laptop is on its way though so I’m hoping to be back by the weekend with another project. Less tech time does mean more craft time though - the ladies that are signed up for my Background Stamps Class next week will have their work cut out when they see my samples! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

STITCHED LEAVES DIES (£33.00)	STITCHED GREENERY DIE (£30.00)	SWEET ICE CREAM PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	CRUMB CAKE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CINNAMON CIDER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

Today I've a quick post with a card inspired by the following challenges:

There is a great sketch at The Paper Craft Crew this week and my card is also perfect for the seasonal thanks challenge over at Global Design Project #GDP263. I made a feature of a Cajun Craze autumn leaf, diecut with one of the large Stitched Leaf Dies and paired with a sentiment from the bundled 'Lots of Leaves' stamp set - take a look:

 My CAS card also features one of my favourite Plaid Tidings papers so I will be linking up over at CAS on Fridays where the theme is PLAID and I added a yellow bow accented with one of the gorgeous acorn trinket embellishments to finish:

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 and I'll be back tomorrow with my card for our new challenge over at The Paper Players. Remember if you're reading this and you're in the UK, the clocks go back this evening so you get an extra hour in bed in the morning - yay! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	ACORN TRINKETS (£7.50)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

I'm flitting between Autumn and Winter/Christmas projects at the moments so I'm back with more leaves today, although the wonderfully warm temperatures here in the UK this week are prolonging our Summer just a little longer and are determined to stave off the change in seasons for as long as possible. No complaints from me on that front! Back to my card, that was inspired by both this week's Global Design Project #GDP258 sketch and the trend over at Just Us Girls this week, where they are looking for cards divided into thirds:

I love things in threes so this sketch really appealed to me - it also gave me the opportunity to create another card using my Stitched Leaves Dies - take a look:

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

Autumnal Plaid Tidings - I used one of the warm plaid patterns from the Plaid Tidings DSP pack as the basis for the colour scheme for today's card; those warm orange, red and purple tones reminded me of warm flannel shirts and are a great colour combination for autumn.

Positive and Negative - Leaves, that is! I decided to break up my trio and use both the positive diecuts of the leaves with their stitched detailing, backed by a plaid stitched rectangle, and in the centre the negative stitched outline of the same leaf, with the plaid showing in the negative space. I added a stitched banner in keeping with my theme and one of my favourite uplifting sentiments of the moment from the coordinating 'Love of Leaves' set across the centre to complete my card. Just check out all that lovely stitched detail:

Stitched Envelope Detail - I left the inside of my card blank, apart from some stamped leaf detail on the corner, however in addition to stamping leaves on my envelope, I added the embossed stitch detail to the leaf on the rear envelope flap for an interesting textural detail. This is really easy to do: simply stamp the leaf and run the centre part of the die through your diecutting machine, without the outline piece.

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 later with my card for this week's new TicTacToe challenge. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	PLAID TIDINGS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	MANGO MELODY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
RICH RAZZLEBERRY CARDSTOCK A4 (£8.25)	RICH RAZZLEBERRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the amazing Anne Marie to host this week and she has a colour challenge for you to work with:

I thought these colours would be perfect for modern autumn leaves and combined them with the current Just Add Ink sketch and my new Stitched Leaves Dies for my card today - take a look:

I used some retired copper glimmer paper for my background panel (our current copper foil would work too but I liked the idea of the added texture of glimmer paper) and cut a leaf in each colour, backing with a Very Vanilla stitched square. My sentiment is from the stamp set in the bundle, called 'Love of Leaves'; I heat embossed it in copper and cut it out with a stitched rectangle. The front of my card is mostly diecuts - perfect for another link up over at SUO Challenges where the current challenge is to use dies/punches on your card - although I did add a little more stamping from the same set to the inside of my card:

I also added a border of leftover scraps of colours to create a co-ordinating border to complete 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 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; my day will consist of cooking, laundry, hockey and BBQ - not necessarily in that order! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

LOVE OF LEAVES BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£45.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
PRETTY PEACOCK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERY VANILLA A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PRETTY PEACOCK CLASSIC STAMPIN’ PAD (£7.00)