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 us to work with:

So many possibilities with this sketch! I chose to keep the basic layout and showcase one of my favourite festive designer series papers that I've been waiting for an opportunity to cut into - take a look:

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

There are two patterns in the Traditions of Christmas specialty paper that I absolutely love: the gold embossed red poinsettia sheet and this pattern, combining red poinsettias with Christmas roses and foliage. The gold embossing, and unusual colour combination incorporating Secret Sea and Pool Party into the mix, make for a stunning pattern that should be showcased in all its festive glory, so the three panels of Ann's sketch were perfect. A simple base and a diecut Words For The Season sentiment in gold foil, popped up using adhesive sheet were all that I needed to really allow it to shine:

I liked this card so much I made a whole bunch of them, adding some alternative sentiments - this one was using another of my Big Type Greetings Dies by Kristina Werner:

I like this version because you can see even more of that fabulous paper! I am linking today's card up with the lovely ladies over at Just Add Ink where they are looking for stencils, dies or both on their cards this week - for me it's just dies today, but great word dies nevertheless!

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 have been taking a break from the craft room re-occupation over the last few days as I have been enjoying the company of James Junior, who has been home from university for the weekend. We will be heading back for his last stint before Christmas this afternoon, with him fed, watered and a fully laundered and ironed wardrobe of clothing - can't be bad! I'll be back in a couple of days with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

TRADITIONS OF CHRISTMAS 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£16.00)

WORDS FOR THE SEASON DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)

SECRET SEA A4 CARDSTOCK (£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 Jan to host this week and she has a seasonal colour challenge for us to work with:

The minute I saw these colours, I knew I wanted to have another go at a coloured embossed sunflower card. Take a look at my finished card:

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

3D Embossed Sunflowers - I have been looking for a good colour combination to try another card using this embossing folder and Jan's chosen palette was perfect! This embossing folder looks lovely both on the embossed and debossed sides (I used the debossed side again on today's card) and it really is a huge folder too; here's my piece before I cut it down to make my card and even this isn't the whole of the folder:

Another Colouring Technique - I used a similar technique to my previous two-colour card using this embossing folder (you can see that card here if you missed it), but this time I coloured the various elements of the debossed design with my Stampin' Blends in the challenge colours, with Cajun Craze petals, Old Olive leaves and Mossy Meadow stems. Once coloured, I dragged my Early Espresso ink pad across the entire cardfront to bring out the relief of the design before trimming to size.

Words Of The Season - I featured a stacked sentiment with a drop shadow using the Words For The Season Dies - these sunflowers are perfect for Autumn in this colourway: 

I added a trio of bronze sequins to the front of my card then a co-ordinating sentiment to the inside my my card, along with a border from one of the offcuts of the front panel to finish:

This embossing folder really does make a card all on it's one I think.

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 back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

SUNFLOWER 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£11.25)	WORDS FOR THE SEASON DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)	CAJUN CRAZE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	EARLY ESPRESSO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
CAJUN CRAZE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	OLD OLIVE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	MOSSY MEADOW STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£10.25)	STAMPIN’ BLENDS DEEP COMBO PACK (£10.25)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of my crafty friend Jan to host this week and she has an interesting clean and simple challenge for us to work with:

Watercolouring - hmm, not something I do often for sure. I deliberated over how to feature this technique on my card this week and ultimately took my inspiration from Michele's layout over at Freshly Made Sketches and those orange and yellow leaves against the grey of the Just Us Girls mood board this week - take a look:

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

Something Old - That cascade of circles on the FMS sketch this week reminded me of the now retired Leaf Fall 3D embossing folder so I decided that I cascade of embossed leaves would be the starting point for today's card. I embossed my folder onto a piece of watercoloured cardstock ready for the next stage. 

Watercoloured Leaves - I used my aquapainter to pick up a variety of oranges, along with a little yellow and brown (I squeezed a little ink into the ink pad lid) and used my aquapainter to watercolour the embossed leaves. Once my leaves dried, I added a light wash of Grey Granite ink around them.

Something New - I added an autumn sentiment diecut with my new Words For The Season Dies, popped up on foam and cut from Grey Granite cardstock to pick up the greys of the JUGS inspiration picture. I also added a few punched leaves for a little extra texture:

I'm not sure my watercolouring is going to win any awards on close inspection, but I do love the effect of the coloured cascading leaves and that diecut sentiment is going to get lots of use for sure in the coming months.

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 am paddleboarding today and aiming to make the most of the weather before it gets too cold. We are going to paddle to a restuarant boat on the river for lunch, so that should be fun! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WORDS FOR THE SEASON DIES (ENGLISH) (£30.00)	WATER PAINTERS (£13.00)	GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£14.00)	GRAY GRANITE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PUMPKIN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	TIMID TIGER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)
DARLING DUCKLING CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PEACH PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	PECAN PIE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£8.50)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.50)	FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.75)