Today is the last day for posting here in the UK to guarantee your Christmas cards will arrive in time for Christmas. If, like me, you have been making Christmas cards all season but still need a few extra at the last minute, the Watercolor Christmas Project kit is definitely a quick solution.

I am a big fan of Stampin' Up!'s kits, which are very generous and of extremely high quality and the Watercolor Christmas Project Kit s no exception. Here are each of the designs in the kit:

Each kit makes 20 cards, 5 each of 4 designs, which look time-consuming but in fact take only minutes to assemble. Which is good news, given that I made up a pack last night for sending out today! I love the co-ordinating Watercolor Wishes stamp set too, however the kit can be used with other sentiment sets you have if you prefer. These kits are on offer as part of the year-ed sale, so I would highly recommend you grab a few and make them up now ready for next year - it will give you a great head start for your cardmaking and you will hit the festive season running!

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. 

Back soon with another project; until then, happy shopping!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Watercolor Christmas Project Kit*

Watercolor Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set*

Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad

It's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The clocks went back last night here in the UK so whilst this heralds the official arrival of winter, it also means an extra hour in bed - bliss! It's the fifth week of the month and the turn of the lovely Jaydee to host this week. She has a tic-tac-toe board to challenge our creative juices:

Tic-tac-toe week is always fun as the gallery is full of so many different creations as each of us work with a different combination of squares. For once I knew exactly where I was going with this one: straight across the middle. I took the opportunity to make another Christmas card, this time a larger 6" x 6" square card - take a look:

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

Leaf Punch Wreath - I used my leaf punch to create the oversize Christmas wreath on my card today. I stamped a whole bunch of leaves using each of the stamps in the 'Painted Harvest' stamp set in Garden Green onto Garden Green cardstock, then punched them out and layered them around my heat-embossed sentiment. Whilst this punch is part of the Painted Autumn Suite in the seasonal catalogue, today's card proves it will stretch beyond autumn into spring, summer and winter seasons too. 

Watercolor Christmas - The sentiment on my card is from the 'Watercolor Christmas' stamp set, that co-ordinates with the Christmas card kit of the same name. I love the big, bold scripted sentiments in this set! I know this set will be a 'keeper' for me, long after this catalogue is gone. I decided to heat emboss my sentiment in gold onto Basic Black cardstock, to tone in with the rich colours of my designer series paper border.

Grab Some Tartan -  The tartan border on my card uses one of my favourite patterns in the Around the World Designer Series Paper pack. This is one of the packs of paper that is included in the 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' designer series paper promotional offer. This offer runs until the end of October so you have three more days to take advantage of this offer - why not stock up today? Just click on the links in the table below to go straight to my online store.

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. 

This card really isn't post-friendly because of the depth and fragile nature of the wreath and bow, however will be perfect to hand-deliver to someone special - it really is very pretty in real life and makes a great statement card.

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

I look forward to seeing what you create with our board this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Bundle	Watercolor Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Christmas Around The World Designer Series Paper	Real Red 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Solid Ribbon	Versamark Pad
Embossing Buddy	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	Hearts & Stars Elements	Brights Best 12" X 12" Cardstock Pack	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Basic Black A4 Cardstock	Leaf Punch	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set

Today I'm sharing a card for this week's challenge over at Global Design Project where this week the challenge is to CASE The Designer and the man in question is one of my all-time favourites - the lovely Brian King. Here is the challenge badge showing the card of Brian's that we are to CASE:

And here's my festive-themed CASE of Brian's card:

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

CASE = Copy And Selectively Edit - I am a big fan of Brian's clean, layered style and so CASEing his work was not difficult for me! I was inspired by the layout of Brian's card, the sentiment style and use of designer series paper, although chose to add to my Christmas card stash with an alternative festive theme and colour scheme.

Watercolour Christmas - I needed a big, bold sentiment for my card and wanted to mimic not only the size but also the swirling script style of Brian's card so I settled on the largest of the sentiments in the Watercolor Christmas set. This set is designed to work with the Watercolor Christmas project kit, yet the gorgeous scripted sentiments, along with the trio of trees, is useful for so much more than the kit cards alone - it's a definite keeper. The angle of the letters meant I needed to add my embellishment after the sentiment rather than slightly more centrally, but the basic layout that inspired my card can still be seen. 

Going Green - One of the things I liked about Brian's original card was the definition that the Early Espresso borders gives to the individual layers and elements. Having decided to use the Be Merry Designer Series Paper for my main panel, I chose to use Garden Green for my borders and sentiment. I carried on the colour with my Garden Green Stitched Felt Embellishment, which also serves as a nod to the Christmas tree pattern on my DSP. 

This is a great card that uses relatively few supplies - thanks Brian for the inspiration!

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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Stitched Felt Embellishments	Watercolor Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Be Merry Designer Series Paper	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad