Before I get into the body of my post today, a reminder that today is the start of Stampin' Up!'s Year End Closeout sale of retiring favourites! You can read all about it in yesterday's post here - if you have any questions or would like to add to my local order to save P&P, do get in touch!

Today I'm sharing a card for the new challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches, but this time not as a participant - as one of their new design team members for 2021! It is the final CC&S challenge of the year and they have reached a milestone 400th challenge - what an achievement! I have been invited, along with the other new design team members, Vicky, Bhavya and Jenny - to create a card for this week's challenge. This week's theme is to create a seasonal card with any of the challenge sketches or colour combinations that have featured in their challenges this year:

I actually didn't go that far back to find the challenge I wanted to work with; I missed participating in Challenge 398 only a couple of weeks ago but I loved this sketch and had so many creative ideas, I had to try one of them out for today's card. Here's the sketch that featured in that challenge:

What to do with those vertical lines? I considered a row of festive stockings, but also wanted to try something with another of my favourite Christmas sets this year, 'Sweetest Time'. Take a look at what I came up with:

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

All Is Calm Candles - If you know this stamp set (and if you don't check out the image in the shop link at the bottom of the post), it has a stamp that is a trio of candles. I decided to get creative with my masking and with the aid of my trusty Stamparatus, I stamped the central three candles, then masked them with a post-it note before stamping an additional candle either side. I did stamp the outer candles in two parts, as I wanted to shorten them too to reflect the chaging size of the lines, but this wasn't too tricky; the Stamparatus made it easy to line up the stripes so you'd really never know.

All is Bright - I decided to omit the last word of my stamped sentiment from the set and replace it with a feature 'Bright' diecut across the front of my candles, cut with my 'Joy' dies for the perfect statement centrepiece. 

Unconventional Colour Combo - I've a couple of confessions as far as this card goes: I originally made it as a single white base layer, however when complete it looked less 'clean and simple' and more 'bland'. To be fair I think this might have a lot to do with my unconventional festive colour combo of Night of Navy, Petal Pink and Cherry Cobbler that feature in Color Dare's TicTacToe challenge 422 (bottom row). I liked these colours together and thought the bold sentiment would work well with the pale candles, but when finished it was, well, bland. So I cut it up and added some outline borders and a pastel card base, along with some clear Wink of Stella to the candle flames and the Navy 'Bright' diecut - and instantly liked it a whole lot better!

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 think my card is still (relatively) clean and simple, although does now have a few more layers than I suspect my new team members would like. I am looking forward to honing my CAS skills as I work with this lovely group each week - I think that might be my 2021 New Year Crafting Resolution #1 ...

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

SWEETEST TIME PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	JOY DIES (£30.00)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PETAL PINK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PETAL PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)

Today I have a quick post to share with you showing the outputs from the Paper Pumpkin 'Joy To The World' craft along session I held a couple of weeks ago. If you need a reminder about this fun global kit, you can read all about it in my post here. We made the cards in the kit as per the instructions, then also make some alternative designs, using items from the kit and some additional ink and cardstock. First up - the card designs that come with the kit:

The kit contains supplies to make 8 cards using the above designs, with materials left over. We made the first four cards, then decided to make some alternatives. I added some extra thick white cardstock and Just Jade cardstock, along with some Cherry Cobbler cardstock, 'Tis The Season designer series paper and a Cherry Cobbler ink pad. First up, a trio of Christmas cards:

 Each of these cards uses the stamp set from the kit, along with various bits and pieces, which when added to allow a completely different card. After the craft along session, when making a few more cards to use up the remainder of the kit supplies, I also challenged myself to make some non-Christmas cards using the same element. With a little creative stamping for the sentiments, I came up with another pair of cards:

 This was the first one, using one of the French diecuts, but I figured everyone is familiar with the word 'amour' for love, so would now what it meant! The second card was designed as a birthday card:

 I used the sentiment from 'Beautiful Friendship' on the inside of my card, which has a very similar font so works well:

I think this card would be lover for someone celebrating a winter birthday - I know just the person, so my card will be winging its way to her! 

If you would like to get your hands on a 'Joy To The World' Paper Pumpkin kit, I've included a link the store below. They are available whilst supplies last but at the time of writing are still in stock, so you can still grab one! Great for easy crafting with 8 lovely cards and matching envelopes at the end of it if you follow the instructions, or a few more if you add some extra supplies and get a little bit more creative!

I'll be back shortly with another post with news of the Year End Closeout Sale and Carryover Products list, which go live tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

JOY TO THE WORLD PAPER PUMPKIN KIT (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

JUST JADE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

CHERRY COBBLER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

'TIS THE SEASON 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)

Today I have a quick post with the a card for the current colour challenge over at Just Add Ink:

These colours have featured in a few of my projects as they are all in the Heartwarming Hugs designer series paper (and you all know how much I love designer series paper!) this card is one I designed for a class featuring the Peace and Joy bundle - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

I layered a trio of banners of DSP onto a stitched rectangle, then added some Real Red sheer ribbon and sprig punch greenery behind my focal point sentiment, with a little stamping on the inside 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 day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project (or two!) and a video for my weekly Paper Players post. Make sure to pop by - you won't want to miss it! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

HEARTWARMING HUGS DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	PEACE & JOY BUNDLE (£42.25)	BANNERS PICK A PUNCH (£21.00)	STITCHED SHAPES DIES (£28.00)	STITCHED RECTANGLES DIES (£33.00)
RED RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£6.50)	SPRIG PUNCH (£17.00)	PEAR PIZZAZZ A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MOSSY MEADOW A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

Today I'm sharing my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a festive recipe challenge:

I struggled a little with the recipe this week; not because there was anything wrong with the ingredients, I think I’ve just been so busy that my creative mojo had upped and left the building! I decided to have another play with my Freezin’ Friends stamp set and this is what I came up with:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Snowflake Splendor - What can I say that I haven’t  already said about this fabulous paper (maybe I’d like the spelling to read ‘splendour’ as a nod to the Queen’s English, but I digress!) Anyway, once again it provided the perfect background and enabled me to tick off ’patterned paper’ and ‘snowflake’ from the recipe, so all good!

Freezin’ Friends - All diecuts are courtesy of this set and I even managed to tick off ‘green’ with my snowy trees. I also added some shimmer white embossing paste to the snowy parts for some textural interest and sparkle:

A Neat Trick - I was wondering how to add ribbon/twine to my design and having decided to feature the tobogganing raccoon it suddenly came to me! When I was little, I spent many hours tobogganing in the snow with my bestie, on a big slope near where we lived (in mountainous Wales where I’m from, snow was a sure thing at some point each winter) and whilst we often made do with a tin tea tray, one year for Christmas my friend received the most beautiful sled, hand built by her father, with wooden slats and a bright red rope handle. It was a thing of beauty - so I thought I’d create one on paper for my raccoon too! I cut some red baker’s twine and secured it behind my image, then threaded it through and glued it to the stamped lines, finishing at the hands. A small amount of twine, but integral to my design:

So what do you think? Does this added detail work? I really like it - thanks for indulging my trip down memory lane today! I'm also linking up with the team over at Festive Friday since today's card ticks off blue - snowflakes - trees on their inspo list this week.

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. 

Here's a summary of our challenge rules:

• Create any card, scrapbooking page, 3D project or packaging project that fits the challenge.
• Please include the challenge graphic and link back to the challenge in your blog post. Turn off word verification so we can leave you lots of lovely comments. Make sure you link the post not the whole blog to the Linky. Use #AYSIXXX when uploading to a public gallery.
• If you’re unsure about ‘the rules’, check the details under the Challenge Guidelines tab on the As You See It Challenge homepage.

Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FREEZIN' FUN BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£43.00)	SNOWFLAKE SPLENDOR DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	SHIMMERY WHITE EMBOSSING PASTE (£8.25)
SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SMOKY SLATE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	BASIC BLACK STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	HIGHLAND HEATHER STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	CRUMB CAKE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)

Today I'm sharing a card that uses Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as its starting point:

I absolutely loved Amy's sketch this week (it's a keeper - thanks Amy!) and could have made a ton of cards with it! Alas time was my enemy so I chose my favourite idea and ran with it! It uses one of my favourite festive combinations inspired by the patterns of the Brightly Gleaming designer paper I used for my rectangle background - take a look:

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

I made the paper the star of the show and paired it with a stamped and diecut sentiment from the 'Peace and Joy' bundle, using vellum for the base layer to soften the panel but allow the pattern to shine through. I used a bunch of retired diecuts for the trio of background 'sticks' (they are actually cut using the candle die from the 'Doily Wishes' set!) and added a copper star in place of the dot on the 'i' in 'bright' for a little something extra - check it out below:

I added a copper bow from some leftover twine from a retired card kit 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

I made another card using the 'Peace and Joy' dies for another card over the weekend which I will hopefully be back to share with you later; right now I'm against the clock so have to dash!! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll hopefully be back later with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

PEACE & JOY BUNDLE (£42.25)	BRIGHTLY GLEAMING SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)	STAR DESIGNER ELEMENTS (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	COPPER FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	VELLUM A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

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

I decided to go all-out with a fancy fold card today and originally was aiming for the central column of the board with diecut - fancy fold - embellishment; by the time I'd finished my card, I had inadvertently covered every square except 'colouring tool'! This card (almost!) has it all - take a look:

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

Double Fan Fancy Fold - I chose to make a double fan fancy fold card today as I've seen lots of these doing the rounds this season and for a fancy fold, they really aren't that tricky. I did a little bit of internet searching for a template, but in the end decided to make my own. My card measures 8 1/4" x 9", scored on the vertical at 1 1/2", 3", 6" and 7 1/2" and then scored on the diagonal as shown below. The basic outline is really straightforward - cutting the mats and layers to decorate was a little more time consuming, but worth it as they look lovely when finished. The card then has space on the reverse for the panel that would otherwise have been on the inside:

Poinsettia Showcase - I chose my favourite holly paper from the Poinsettia Place pack for my panels and chose to create a single layered poinsettia for my centrepiece. I cut a three layered flower from red velvet paper for my poinsettia using the poinsettia dies and added some holly leaves and gold berry sprigs. The red velvet paper is gorgeous and perfect for a showcase flower such as this - I wish you could feel the texture of it; it embosses beautifully too, as you can see on the close up below:

Pearls and Shine - I added a beaded pearl embellishment to the centre of my flower for the perfect finishing touch. Combined with the velvet paper, touches of gold foil and twine and gold embossed sentiment, this makes for quite a special Christmas card.

I'm linking my card up over at TGIF Challenges where the theme is 'Have a magical Christmas' (my sentiment was the perfect choice!) and over at SUO Challenges where the theme is also Christmas.

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; for the first time ever whilst still in November, I think we are decorating the house for Christmas this afternoon. The James Juniors have been pestering me all week and to be honest I think we could all use a little festive cheer, so decorations it is!  I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

RED VELVET PAPER (£5.50)	POINSETTIA PLACE DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	POINSETTIA PETALS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£52.00)	GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	GOLD STAMPIN’ EMBOSS POWDER (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	SOFT SEA FOAM A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
WONDER OF THE SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	BEADED PEARLS (£7.50)

A quick post from me today! Today I'm sharing a card that was inspired by the current challenge over at Inspired By:

I love those colourful bottle brush trees and decided I would do a spot of watercolouring to create my own ombre trio - take a look:

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

I diecut the trees from watercolour paper using the Majestic Mountain dies, watercoloured them and popped the middle one up on a foam adhesive sheet. I paired it with a heat-embossed sentiment from 'Itty Bitty Christmas' and embossed my white background panel with the Tasteful Texture embossing folder for some added texture.

Finally I added a sprinkling of clear and irridescent sequins 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 another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

TASTEFUL TEXTILE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	MAJESTIC MOUNTAIN DIES (£33.00)	ITTY BITTY CHRISTMAS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
FOAM ADHESIVE SHEETS (£7.50)	FLUID 100 WATERCOLOR PAPER (£8.25)	BERMUDA BAY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MELON MAMBO CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

Today I'm sharing a card using the current sketch over at Paper Craft Crew in a card that was inspired by the fabulous photo over at The Card Concept to create my clean and layered card:

I was inspired by the red and black buffalo check pillow, green ribbon-tied foliage and the white of the rocking chair of the Card Concept photo; this is what I came up with:

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

I used the foliage stamps in the 'Curvy Christmas' set to create my tied foliage and stamped this on a stitched scallop square; no curves on the front of the card, but I did use one of the curved stamps to decorate my envelope and the inside of my card:

I paired this with a panel of Real Red cardstock stamped in black with the Buffalo Check background, a banner of green gingham ribbon and some rhinestones and pearls to decorate, along with a sentiment snipped from one of the stamps in the 'Itty Bitty Christmas' stamp set.

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 absolutely love that inspiration photo and combined with the sketch am really pleased with how this card turned out.

Enjoy your evening and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CURVY CHRISTMAS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£20.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£27.00)	BUFFALO CHECK CLING STAMP SET (£14.40)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£7.43)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£6.30)	JUST JADE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£6.30)	REAL RED STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£7.65)	ITTY BITTY CHRISTMAS CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£18.00)
REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£6.30)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.28)	PEARL BASIC JEWELS (£4.28)	FLOWERS FOR EVERY SEASON RIBBON COMBO PACK (£8.33)

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

My card is all about the winter blues today - perfect for the Double D challenge (thanks for the heads up on this one LeAnne!) I really liked LeAnne's sketch layout this week and decided to use those panels to highlight one of the photographic images in the Feels Like Frost designer series paper pack - take a look:

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

I chose a lovely image of frosty seed heads against a blue background and cut out the panels using my Rectangle Stitched Dies before piecing back together to create the finished layout:

I brushed the frosty elements with my clear Wink of Stella brush which is difficult to see in the photo but give it a lovely subtle sparkle in real life. I added a sentiment from 'Snowflake Wishes' and a mat border of silver glimmer paper and finished off the inside with a sentiment from the same set:

The most tricky part of today's card was cutting the stitched rectangles and aligning them to the image. Otherwise, a pretty straightforward card!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's project for you to pin for easy reference:

 I 

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; today is officially 'Stir up Sunday', an old tradition when home cooks spend the last Sunday before advent 'stirring up' their Christmas pudding and in modern times their Christmas cake and homemade mincemeat too.  The day gets its name from the beginning of the collect for the day in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins with the words, "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people". We had a day of preparation yesterday and made a batch of mincemeat and some mince pies; today we are making Christmas puddings and cake - yum! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

FEELS LIKE FROST 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)

SNOWFLAKE WISHES PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£24.00)

RECTANGLE STITCHED DIES (£33.00)

SEASIDE SPRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

WINK OF STELLA CLEAR GLITTER BRUSH (£7.50)

Thursday already - where does the week go?! Today I'm sharing a card that I meant to blog yesterday, but simply ran out of time! It uses this week's CAS(E) This Sketch layout and the current Colour Inkspiration colour palette:

Firstly, I would like to say an big 'thank you' to the CAS(E) This Sketch team for choosing my entry last week as their winner - always an honour as the competition is stiff, with so many notable entries! If you missed it, you can see that card here. Now onto my card for this week! I thought long and hard about this sketch, especially because I couldn't come up with a design solely with words that I liked. I did come up with one non-Christmas idea that I am still playing around with, but as my challenge entry I decided to settle on creating the overall shape and mix some images in with my sentiments - after all, a sketch is for inspiration as a starting point, right? Take a look at what I came up with:

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

I used the various festive owls in the 'Have A Hoot' stamp set and created my pyramid of owls and sentiments to follow the sketch layout. I used my Stamparatus to help with positioning and stamped the whole thing onto my card (minus the mistletoe above the pair) and then stamped the owls again and diecut them, so that I could pop them up on dimensionals. This was largely because my card is otherwise one layer, and I didn't want my Blends to bleed through to the reverse. I added a few snowflake sequins, and my card was complete - a #simplestamping Christmas card, save for the diecutting of the owls!

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:

HAVE A HOOT BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	STAMP SET CLING HAVE A HOOT (ENGLISH) (£21.00)	WHISPER WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	SNOWFLAKE SEQUINS (£5.50)
GRAY GRANITE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	POPPY PARADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SHADED SPRUCE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	JUST JADE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)	SOFT SUEDE STAMPIN' BLENDS COMBO PACK (£8.50)