Today I have another kit based project to share with you: the 'To You And Yours Shaker Cards' project kit featured on page 4 of the current seasonal catalogue. Whilst I love creating my own cards from scratch, I am also a huge fan of Stampin' Up!'s card kits. Like the rest of the Stampin' Up! product range they are always of a very high quality and represent great value for money and for me are a great way to relax as I craft, as all I have to do is follow the instructions and put them together!

I don't always blog my kit projects because often they are completed then straight out the door (they make great last minute cards for busy crafters too!) however I often get the feedback when people see them made up at classes, parties or open house events that they look so much better in real life than the catalogue images. So, with that in mind I have been making a concerted effort, along with one of my downlines and fellow 'kit fan' Barbara, to get my kits put together ahead of time and share them with you. So here goes! 

The 'To You And Yours Shaker Cards' Project Kit contains everything you need to make 18 cards, 6 each of three designs. You can make them with or without the additional stamping - for this you will need the 'To You And Yours Too' co-ordinating stamp set and a few ink pads (see product table below). The first card features a star shaker, complete with star-shaped sequins:

The second card features a Christmas tree, with sequin baubles and glitter glass shaker:

The last card features a bauble, in gorgeous green and red (in case you're wondering, I swapped the sentiments on the front of each of the star and bauble cards because I preferred them this way) - I think this one is actually my favourite: 

Aren't they just gorgeous?! And not tricky to put together at all! So much so that I am running a couple of children's classes to make these cards during the forthcoming half-term holiday; you can check out the details by clicking on the 'events' tab on my Facebook page here or alternatively send me an email or give me a call - spaces are limited and they are filling up fast! Likewise, if you would like to get together with a group of grown up friends to make this kit then let me know - I'll bring along the inks and stamp sets, you just need to purchase the kits!

If you are purchasing this kit to craft at home, (or need more convincing!) the lovely people at Stampin' Up! have even made a video showing you step by step how to put the kit together:

I hope you enjoyed the review of this fantastic little kit; I'll be back with details of the other kits we offer in due course. That's all from me today - back tomorrow with details of this week's new Wednesday Weekly Deals and a creative punch art project. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

To You & Yours Shaker Cards Project Kit	To You & Yours Too Photopolymer Stamp Set	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Multipurpose Liquid Glue	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad
Cucumber Crush Classic Stampin' Pad

Happy Friday everyone - there is always something psychologically good about the end of the working week! Today I have a fun Christmas card for you using this week's Retroketches inspiration for my layout:

The minute I saw this sketch I knew it offered the perfect opportunity to use more of the lovely reindeer paper clips on my card - take a look:

I used a 6" square base of Mossy Meadow card stock with mats in Real Red and used a piece of the festive gingham paper from the Merry Moments DSP stack for the feature DSP layer. I adhered three reindeer paper clips to my cardfront as per the sketch and for the sentiment used one from the 'A Little Something' set; this set co-ordinates with and is available as a bundle with the Square Pillow Box Thinlits Dies - the three-part sentiment was the perfect fit. A sliver of retired Old Olive pleated ribbon completes my card. I just love these reindeer paper clips - so versatile and such a fun festive accessory!

That's all from me today; we have a busy weekend with a school open day and a birthday in the house, in addition to the usual weekend chaos of homework and sport. Wish me luck! 

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

A Little Something Clear-Mount Stamp Set	Reindeer Paper Clips Embellishments	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper Stack	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Many Marvelous Markers

I've a super-quick post today to share another of my stamp-a-stack cards featuring the lovely Home for Christmas designer series paper and stamp from the 'Cup of Cheer' stamp set - take a look:

This is a layout I've used before, with a very similar card here that explains in more detail the items used - I just changed up the paper and colours so that I can use some of the lovely Christmas tree paper - this paper makes me think of Christmas day and opening all of the lovely present beneath the Christmas tree.

If you are as in love with this season's new designer series papers as I am, you may want to consider joining my paper share; I am currently doing my second round of paper and accessory shares from the seasonal catalogue - you can find all the details along with links to order in the original blog post here. 

I also have another stamp-a-stack Christmas card class planned for 10th November; if you would like to come along and make your Christmas cards ready for posting then you would be more than welcome - email or call me to book your place!

Back tomorrow with another project and this week's Weekly Deals. Until then, happy stampin!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform	2" Circle Punch	Banner Triple Punch
Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Circles Collection Framelits Dies	Pearl Basic Jewels
Cup Of Cheer Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Delightful Dijon A4 Cardstock	Pool Party A4 Cardstock	Gold Cording Trim

Happy Monday everyone! Today I have another of the cards that I designed for my recent Christmas stamp-a-stack featuring an adorable reindeer from the Home For Christmas designer paper. This clean and layered card is just perfect for the challenge over at The Card Concept this week, which is to feature a forest friend on your card:

Isn't that inspiration photo just the cutest? Here's the reindeer forest friend that features on my card:

I used a Soft Suede base and a couple of patterned pieces of Home for Christmas DSP, then punched a 2" circle of Very Vanilla and adhered my fussy cut reindeer on the top. I stamped the 'Have a' and 'Christmas' parts of my sentiment from the Holly Jolly Greetings set in Memento Black onto Very Vanilla, then cut a 'jolly' out of red glimmer paper using my Big Shot and Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies and adhered all of my sentiments with dimensionals for a little extra height. I just love the Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper - the retro designs are fantastic and the reindeers and santas are all decorated differently and in slightly different poses that are great for fussy cutting, although I'm not sure my ladies agreed after cutting out six of these little fellas!

That's all from me today; back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Big Shot	Magnetic Platform
2" Circle Punch	Red Glimmer Paper	Soft Suede A4 Cardstock

It's Sunday and you know what that means: time for a new challenge over at The Paper Players! This week it's the turn of my talented friend the lovely Claire to host and she has a great sketch challenge for you:

Claire loves layers and this sketch certainly has lots! I decided to go with a showcase of Merry Moments Christmas DSP on mine, although that wasn't where I started out with this card - I saw that button and just knew it was the perfect opportunity to showcase one of my reindeer paper clips! Take a look:

I used two of the Merry Moments DSP patterns along with a Real Red spotted paper (this one is retired but very similar to the pattern in the Brights DSP stack), matted on either Chrry Cobbler or Mossy Meadow. I added a band and scalloped edge in Real Red, but the stars of today's card are most definitely that 'jolly' sentiment cut from red foil (I built this up on 3 layers of cardstock to give added depth) and that oh-so-cute reindeer clip, complete with Cherry Cobbler enamel dot - well, what's a Rudolf without a red nose?!

A no-stamp card that uses layers and embellishment for pattern and interest - perfect for the festive season. As for the reindeer paper clip - how cute!

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 how you interpret our sketch in your card designs. I'm off for a morning of basketball and hoping to spend a little time tidying up in the garden this afternoon, along with some baking to make use of some of our home grown raspberries - yum! 

Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Real Red A4 Cardstock	Christmas Greetings Thinlits Dies	Reindeer Paper Clips Embellishments	Home For Christmas Enamel Dots	Red Foil Sheets
Merry Moments Designer Series Paper	Cherry Cobbler A4 Cardstock	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock

A quick - and late! - post from me today, but since I didn't post yesterday I thought I'd better squeeze one in today! I was fundraising at a MacMillan Coffee morning yesterday and have been busy with the usual flurry of household chores, homework and swimming clubs that generally occupy a Saturday in the James household today. The lovely ladies over at Less Is More have a challenge for 'something shiny' this week and I have the perfect CAS creation to fit - here's my card:

I used a simple base of Real Red and a mat of Whisper White, onto which I stamped 'have a' and 'Christmas' in red around a gold foil 'Merry' diecut, formed using my Christmas Greetings thinlits (I am so in love with these!) I cut an ornament shape out of gold foil using my Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies and my Big Shot and backed this with a 1 3/4" circle of red glimmer paper (well what is shine without a little sparkle too?!), added a gold cord trim bow and adhered the ornament slightly off the edge of the card to look as if it was hanging from the 'y' of 'merry'. 

I designed this card as one of the makes for my all day Christmas stamp-a-stack this week and the ladies present loved it, although having to remove the tiny pieces from the ornament was proving tedious by the time they had made six of them! I'm also using the ornament dies in my October technique class in a couple of weeks time and can't wait - combined with the Embellished Ornaments stamp set (another 15% off bundle when you buy the two together!) they really are very versatile.

Back tomorrow with my card for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players; come back then, you won't want to miss it!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Delicate Ornament Thinlits Dies	Holly Jolly Greetings Clear-Mount Bundle	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Gold Foil Sheets
Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Red Glimmer Paper

Did you know that September is classical music month? In honour of this, the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge has 'musical' as its theme and that's where I'm linking up my card today:

It might not be classical, but I had that classic of all Christmas carols, Jingle Bells, in my head when I made today's clean and simple card:

I used a base of Very Vanilla with a piece of musical notepaper (I used some retired paper) - the current 'Home For Christmas' dsp has some paper printed with Christmas carol sheet music that would be perfect for this. I then set my top panel of Very Vanilla at a jaunty angle and stamped my sentiment from the 'Jingle All The Way' stamp set in Real Red alongside the bell image from Cozy Christmas', which I coloured in using Crushed Curry and Garden Green Stampin' Write Markers, adding some red berry pearls that I coloured with a red Sharpie.

A super simple card - maybe one for my piano teacher this Christmas, I'm sure she would appreciate it!

Back tomorrow with this week's Wednesday deals; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Cozy Christmas Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Jingle All The Way Wood-Mount Stamp Set	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Many Marvelous Markers	Pearl Basic Jewels

I've been busy today with the final preparations for the first of my all day Christmas Stamp-a-Stacks later this week but today's card that I'm going to share is the final one from last month's technique class using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set:

For this card we used a base of Real Red and decorated the front with a piece of Merry Moments DSP, then cut away a section using a 2" circle punch, so that it would fit around a 3D poinsettia flower made from Real Red card stock and adhered to the inside to the card. We used two layers of petals and a trio of leaves for our flower and wrapped a few loops of fine gold metallic thread behind it. This was a great card to get everyone used to building the 3D flower using the punch, having stamped the patterns onto the petals and leaves beforehand. These flowers also look great on festive packaging and really make the most of this versatile stamp set. This is one of the many great value bundles in the seasonal catalogue - with 15% off when you purchase the bundle, it represents a great saving. If you would like to see this stamp and punch combo in action (and a refresher for the ladies that attended my class!), here's a great video from Stampin' Up! that gives you the lowdown:

I hope you enjoyed that video. Don't forget, if you live in or around Northampton and would like more information on attending any of my classes, you can find full details here or just get in touch to confirm availability. Back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Bundle	Merry Moments Designer Series Paper	Gold Metallic Thread	Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad	Garden Green A4 Cardstock
2" Circle Punch	Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Daffodil Delight A4 Cardstock	Whisper White A4 Cardstock
Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

Good evening blog readers! I had a lovely time with the ladies - and gent! - that attend my card class at a local residential care home this morning. As always, the lovely Sheila and Brenda were wonderful hostesses and today we were joined a new resident, Peggy, for the first time. We enjoyed a pleasant few hours making Christmas cards and this afternoon I caught up with one of my team over a quick coffee and got some jobs done before collecting the children and embarking on the usual Tuesday round of homework, piano lessons and dinner. Anyway, enough about my day! No time to make a card today, so I thought I'd share with you another of the cards we made at my Technique class this month. Another using the 'Reason For The Season' stamp set, but this time in white and gold:

I used extra thick Whisper White cardstock for my base, then created a layered central panel using a piece of gold foil cardstock and a piece of Whisper White covered with a piece of the gorgeous gold foil Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack. I stamped the sentiment and flower onto a piece of Whisper White in Versamark and heat embossed in gold, then fussy cut the flower and punched the sentiment out using a 2" circle punch. To put together, I created a few loops of gold corded trim and adhered these to my card, followed by the sentiment then lastly the flower, overlapping each slightly. A sprinkling of gold sequins from the Metallics Sequin Assortment completes my card.

This is my favourite of all the cards we made in this month's technique class - I love the modern, crisp gold and white finish. That's all from me today; back tomorrow with a new collection of weekly deals. until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Reason For The Season Photopolymer Stamp Set	Winter Wonderland Designer Vellum Stack	Metallics Sequin Assortment	Embossing Buddy	Versamark Pad
Heat Tool (Uk)	Gold Cording Trim	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder	2" Circle Punch

Today I have another Christmas card for you! I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch as my inspiration:

This is such a great sketch - I can see me using it for lots of cards. Today I combined it with the Merry Monday Challenge that I haven't played along with for a while - this week we are challenged to use holly on our card and I immediately reached for my favourite new Home For Christmas DSP. Holly is also the theme over at Happy Little Stampers, so I'm linking up there too. Here's my card:

I used Real Red for my base, with a piece of striped DSP across the horizontal. I then mounted a piece of the holly patterned DSP onto a mat of Mossy Meadow, then cut a striped banner with my Triple Banner Punch and popped it up on dimensionals in the centre of the holly panel. I then stamped my sentiment, from the super-useful sentiment set 'Oh What Fun', in Mossy Meadow on a piece of Very Vanilla, mounted this on a mat of Real Red and added some red berries (tiny pearls that I coloured red with a Sharpie) to add a little dimension. I rounded the corners of all my mats and panels using my Project Life corner rounder as per the sketch; this softens the sharp lines of the panels, which I rather like.

A rather simple layout, but a great way to use a combination of co-ordinating patterns and I love the added berry detail on the sentiment.

Back tomorrow with a new challenge over at The Paper Players; this week it's a colour challenge and I'm hosting, so come back then and check it out!

Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Home For Christmas Designer Series Paper	Oh, What Fun Photopolymer Stamp Set	Banner Triple Punch	Punch Corner Project Life	Real Red A4 Cardstock
Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad	Mossy Meadow A4 Cardstock	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock	Pearl Basic Jewels