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 and we have a special challenge for you this week to celebrate our 800th challenge! As it's sketch week, we are going to revisit the very first sketch we used here at The Paper Players when we started:

Ann was one of the original team members, so it's only fitting she should be our host this week.My own blog doesn't go back that far so I know I didn't play along with this sketch the first time around; Challenge 169 was the first challenge I played along with and I joined the design team as a guest then a permanent member on Challenge 203 - so I'm nearer my personal 600th anniversary post, but I digress! You know how much I love a good sketch, so revisiting number 1 was fun - and I broke open some of my new pre-order product from the new September Stampin' Up! catalogue to make a Christmas card to share with you today - take a look:

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

There's a mix of old and new on today's card: I used one of the patterns in the new Creative Celebrations Mix & Match designer series paper pack with a printed wreath as the centre of my focal layer, cutting it out with an Everyday Arches Die to follow the shape of the wreath. I used a base of (retired) Soft Succulent cardstock and covered the top portion with a piece of (retired) Tidings of Christmas patterned paper - the colour, including the retired Evening Evergreen, coordinates really well with these new papers.

For my accent image I used a deer, complete with winter scarf.  The deer is a pre-cut diecut piece that is also included in the Creative Celebrations DSP pack - it contains a mixture of patterned sheets, split sheets, tag designs and a few sheets of precut pieces that are great for quick and easy cards. The designs also co-ordinate perfectly with the Season of Celebration Mix & Match Ephemera Pack and the Happiest Season Tags Mix & Match Ephemera Pack - both of which you can expect to see on future cards. I fussy cut the diecut deer's border a little closer and decided to add some clear rhinestones to my wreath and a Hydrangea Hue bow behind my dear for a couple of extra festive touches:

A banner of Evening Evergreen cardstock and a simple 'Noel' greeting from the (retired) 'Peaceful Noel' stamp set complete today's 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:

It would be lovely to see as many of you as possible join us for our milestone anniversary challenge this week. Enjoy your day; I don't have anything special planned today, so I'm hoping it will be a relaxing one. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

EVERYDAY ARCHES DIES (£27.00)

2026–2028 IN COLOR™ A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£6.75)

This is my second post today! Technically it is in lieu of yesterday's post, but having held this month's online class yesterday morning and spent some time with the James Juniors in the afternoon now that they are on summer vacation, I haven't got around to typing up until today. I am here now though and I'm sharing a couple of cards using the current sketch over at Just Add Ink:

I haven't found the time to play along with these ladies for a while (waves enthusiastically at the JAI team!) and this week's sketch was too good to pass up! It is a perfect sketch to showcase designer series paper so I grabbed one of the packs that are currently 15% off in the DSP Sale this month and with thoughts of Christmas in mind I made a couple of cards. Here's the first one:

Both of today's cards feature the Tidings of Christmas papers, and two different sentiments from the co-ordinating tidings and Trimmings stamp set. This is a great sketch that would work for simple, flat cards, but I decided to step mine up a little by adding in some of the gorgeous co-ordinating Evening Evergreen 3/8" Chevron Weave Ribbon and creating some statement bows. On my first card I went for an over-the-top triple looped bow:

Whilst I do think is rather fabulous, it isn't ever so post-friendly. As such, I went a little more conservative on my second card with a flat bow. Here's my card, showcasing the gorgeous deep green patterned paper:

And here's a close-up of that flatter bow, which is a little more mail friendly:

Excuse the light lines on the photograph - it has been so hot and sunny here this past week that it is playing havoc with photo-taking in my south-facing office. I'm not complaining about the weather, but am definitely having to be a little more organised about when I photograph to avoid these harsh lines! Here's a picture of both cards together:

Which one do you prefer? I love the patterns in these papers so much - I will definitely be snagging another pack whilst they are discounted before the end of this month. 

The Tidings of Christmas Suite features in the annual catalogue, so if you want to get started in earnest on your Christmas crafting, these products are available now - no need to wait for the launch of the new autumn-winter catalogue on 3rd August! Furthermore, I will be featuring the Tidings and Trimmings Bundle and the Tidings of Christmas DSP in my August Online Card Class, scheduled for Monday 16th August. If you would like more information or to join me for this class, please do get in touch - I would love you to join me! 

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:

TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	TIDINGS OF CHRISTMAS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£9.14)	EVENING EVERGREEN (3/8" 1 CM) CHEVRON WEAVE RIBBON (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	EVENING EVERGREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
SOFT SUCCULENT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	EVENING EVERGREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)