Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's my turn to host this week and I have a colour challenge for you to work with:

I made a couple of cards to share with you today, both variations on the same theme. Here's the first one - take a look:

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

Peaceful Place - So I had an ulterior motive in choosing today's colour combination. I've had a pack of Peaceful Place Specialty Designer Series Paper in my collection since I did my mini catalogue preorder in August, but had yet to use it. I had a feeling that would be the case; I love these papers, but didn't buy the bundle that features in the Peaceful Place Suite. I chose the colour combination that is found in these papers for this week's challenge because it would both force me to cut into these papers and also I am hoping the gallery will have lots of inspiration for me too! I used a combination of two paper patterns from the pack on each of my cards, one for the main panel and a contrasting or co-ordinating one to frame it. The papers are stunning, with beautiful silver foil detailing. Great for special cards!

Merry Snowflakes Seasonal Label - Fancy fold aside (more about that in a moment), today's cards really are a showcase of these beautiful papers. Apart from some sequins, rhinestones and a mesh ribbon bow, the only other element to my card is a heat-embossed sentiment from the Merry Snowflakes set, in silver on black or white respectively, and cut out with one of the Seasonal Labels Dies. The words of this sentiment seemed to be perfectly suited to the snowy scenes on my card:

 The only other stamping is on the reverses of the card, where I've stamped a further greeting and left space for a personal message:

A Fancy Fold - I thought for today's card I would ring the changes with a fancy fold. I decided on a double box fancy fold because I wanted something with a feature panel and this card is really quite straightforward to create. I had seen this design in an A6 card size on the internet, but adapted the basic principle to suit my own requirements. My finished card measures 6"x6" and easily folds flat for posting, which is a bonus! 

I struggled to photograph this one so well - I'm blaming the dark, winter days that we are experiencing here now - so here's another at an angle to try and capture the sentiment detail of the embossed silver against the white:

If anyone is interested in the measurements I sued to create my version of a double box fancy fold card, then do leave me a message below and I'll add them in to my post (I would write them in now but don't have them to hand). 

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

And here's the second one:

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. 

So what do you think? Which of today's cards do you prefer and what do you think of today's fancy fold? Please do leave me a comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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; Ben is on parade with the other army cadets from school at a Remembrance Day parade and service this morning, so this afternoon will be spent completing homework and the like. I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

PEACEFUL PLACE 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	MERRY SNOWFLAKES CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)	SEASONAL LABELS DIES (£35.00)	SUBTLE SHIMMER SEQUINS (£6.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	1-1/2" (3.8 CM) METALLIC MESH RIBBON (£7.50)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. The lovely Vicky has handed over the reins and I am your host for the month of November. Our first challenge is a colour challenge: 

This trio of colours is one of my favourite festive colour combinations and they compliment white beautifully. I am in full Christmas card making mode right now, so I am looking forward to seeing what you make with these colours. For my card today I went with two simple clusters of Christmas Season foliage to accent a central sentiment label:

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

The 'Christmas Season' stamp set is perfect for festive foliage in these colours (it also contains some lovely pinecones, although I've not used them on today's card) and I stamped a sentiment from 'Delivering Cheer' on a label cut with the Seasonal Labels dies, which includes dies that also cut out the foliage. Another sentiment on the inside of my card from the same set and a little extra corner detail complete today's card:

I love the Real Red card base for a Christmas card - I also added a trio of rhinestones for some festive sparkle:

This is one of those cards that can be easily mass produced - just stamp a bunch of foliage pieces and sentiment labels and then have fun arranging the pieces. Kind of like flower arranging without the mess!

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'm also having another entry into Just Us Girls challenge this week with their wild card theme of 'leaves' - yesterday autumn, today winter!

As a reminder, for our colour challenges, you must use all of the stated challenge colours. You may also use neutral colours; however, the challenge colours should be the most noticeable ones featured on your card. We use Stampin' Up! colour names for reference, but you are welcome to use any other companies' products as long as you match the challenge colours as closely as possible. What will you make with my colours this week? I can't wait to find out and look forward to visiting your blogs in due course.

One last reminder: the Eden's Garden Collection pre-release is now available to order! Read all about it and order yours in this post here.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

CHRISTMAS SEASON BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	DELIVERING CHEER PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (£17.00)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	SHADED SPRUCE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PEAR PIZZAZZ CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

Hurrah it's the weekend! A quick card from me today that I made earlier in the week for a couple of challenges:

The current challenge over at Time Out has a theme of 'Down to Earth'; I didn't use the optional twist of kraft cardstock because I wanted to use one of my favourite Christmas stamps with some retired paper I have been hoarding that dictated the colour scheme of today's card - take a look:

I thought the retired World of Good Embossed Specialty Designer Series Paper would make the perfect themed backdrop to go with the 'peace on earth' stamp set from the 'Thinking Thanks and Peace' stamp set. I heat-embossed my stamp in gold onto Basic Grey and coloured my dove with my Stampin' chalk marker:

A sentiment and an offcut strip of that beautiful embossed paper complete the inside of my card:

This stamp is very much a 'one and done' so great for quick cards, but it can be easily dressed up with the addition of some background themed stamping or designer paper, as I've done here. This stamp is a favourite of mine so I am also joining up with the lovely ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are asking us to showcase our favourite holiday products (so many to choose from!)

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:

THINKING THANKS & PEACE CLING STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£20.00)

BASIC GRAY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

WHITE STAMPIN' CHALK MARKER (£3.25)

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)

Today I have a really quick post to share a card that I made for this week's Inspired By challenge:

They had another two great inspiration photos this week; I decided to use the winter inspiration photo and the sketch (in landscape) and was drawn to both the colours and one of the styles of Christmas trees it featured - it's very similar to one in the retired set 'Festival of Trees' - take a look at my card and you'll see which one I mean:

I stamped the tree in Real Red, Night of Navy and Bumblebee on a trio of white stitched rectangles, I added a silver foil stitched star to each one, cut using one of the Give It A Whirl dies and added a red cardinal from the same stamp set and a silver twine bow to the centre one:

A heat-embossed sentiment and a few extra stars to pretty up the inside completes my card:

No supplies list today - I hope you enjoyed this mix of old and new! I do love an unconventionally-coloured Christmas card and these modern trees are a timeless class for sure so it felt good to give them some love too.

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

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

So many ways to use this sketch! I decided to go with a larger slimline card and showcase one of my favourite paper designs in the current mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Whimsy and Wonder - I love the rather less traditional colours of the Whimsy and Wonder specialty designer series paper and I particularly love the iridescent foiling on some of the sheets, such as the snowflakes on the paper I am featuring on today's card. I cut three rectangular panels of DSP using my stitched rectangle dies and matted each with some brushed silver foil cardstock and a layer of basic white too.

Stitched Snowflakes - For the focal point to anchor my banner, I decided to create a large layered snowflake, using two snowflakes cut using my Stitched Snowflakes Dies and backed this with an additional iridescent snowflake. I added a large rhinestone and silver trim bow - here's a close up so that you can see just how pretty it is:

Finishing Touches - I heat embossed my sentiment from the 'Merry Snowflakes' stamp set in silver onto a banner of Blushing Bride on the front of my card, and stamped another sentiment from the same set onto the inside panel:

I added snippets of snowflakes both to the inside and beneath the panels on the outside of my card to complete the look - you can never have too many snowflakes, right?! I just love this card - so gloriously feminine, yet festive too!

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; we are enjoying a restful day at home. If it stays fine we might go for a long walk this afternoon, and since it's the start of half term I may see if I can cajole the rest of the James family into completing a jigsaw with me on our return! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

WHIMSY & WONDER 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£14.00)	STITCHED SNOWFLAKES DIES (£32.00)	WONDERFUL SNOWFLAKES (£5.50)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (£9.25)
BLUSHING BRIDE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

Today I'm sharing a clean and simple Christmas card for the current challenge over at CAS Christmas:

I knew I had some red and grey plaid in my retired paper collection so thought I would use this as the basis of my card featuring another of those Delicate Baubles dies - this time the snowflake:

The paper features more muted tones of red and grey (Cherry Cobbler and Grey Granite) than I remembered, but I actually quite like the effect. A simple 'Noel' greeting that I fussy cut from the 'Tidings and Trimmings' stamp set and a single rhinestone 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. 

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DELICATE BAUBLES DIES (£33.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)	CHERRY COBBLER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRAY GRANITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

It's Thursday and time for a new challenge over at TicTacToe! It's the turn of Team X to host this week and the lovely LeAnne is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I decided to give my Delicate Baubles Dies another outing - the Christmas tree was calling my name! - so I too the first column on the Tic Tac Toe board with Christmas Tree/Bow/Green and in a fun twist decided to pair with the colour palette over at Just Us Girls this week for a rather unconventional Christmas card colour scheme - take a look:

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

This And That - The key to making today's card work is the piece of retired This and That Epic Day design series paper that I used for the frame on my card. It does such a good job of bringing all three colours together and makes the bright bauble tone in rather stand out in a way that jars, I think.

Delicate Baubles - Another bauble paper-pieced in block of the JUGS challenge colours, with some sparkly enamel dots to highlight the starbursts and a gold enamel star to top the tree. I trimmed the base of the bauble on this one so that it didn't have a double border edge.

Add A Bow - I could have added a diecut bow using the die in the Delicate Baubles die set that I used on my previous bauble cards, but decided that something more showy was needed so added a triple bow in Pool Party sheer ribbon - so pretty!

A simple 'Noel' sentiment from the 'Trimmings & Tidings' stamp set completes my card. So what do you think - is this colour scheme too unconventional for a Christmas card? Do leave me a comment below - as always, I'd love to know your thoughts.

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. 

A tictactoe board offers so many creative possibilities - how does this week's board inspire you? Why not have a go? We would love to see you in the gallery and who knows - you might be selected for Designer's Choice and be eligible to be a guest designer on a future challenge. 

Enjoy your day; as of this afternoon, both of the James Juniors will be officially enjoying their half term break, so I am looking forward to spending more quality time with them next week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

DELICATE BAUBLES DIES (£33.00)	TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)	POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	DAFFODIL DELIGHT A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	POOL PARTY 3/8" (1 CM) SHEER RIBBON (£5.50)	WONDERFUL GEMS (£7.50)

Today I'm sharing a very special card as it was made for this week’s new challenge over at Color Throwdown, where I am delighted to be the featured designer this week!

This is the colour palette we are working with:

 

How pretty is that trio of pastels?! I am in a real groove with Christmas card making at the moment, so no ghosts for me! I decided on a trio of Christmas trees instead - take a look:

 

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

Christmas Tree Dies - These skinny Christmas trees are from the Christmas Tree Dies and I think they are my absolute favourites in the set! They can be used in traditional and less conventional colours and still look great. I cut a tree in each colour and also used a piece of watercolour-effect designer paper that was from last year‘s winter mini catalogue that featured the same heather and aqua tones.

Texture and Pines - I used this week’s Global Design Project layout #GDP314 for my card today and for square element used some shimmer white cardstock embossed with the Evergreen embossing folder. This adds a lovely sheen and great texture and dimension as a background detail. 

Seasonal Swirls - I decided to use the star wreath piece from the Seasonal Swirls Dies for the round element of the design, cut from retired white glimmer paper for a full-on winter sparkle. I also added a few sequins and flicked my background with my clear Wink of Stella pen for added shimmer.

 

I added a sentiment from the 'Sparkle of The Season' stamp set, anchored with a pink enamel heart 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. 

Enjoy your day; you should definitely check out the Color Throwdown design team creations to see what they made of this sugared-almond inspired colour palette this week.

 

Remember too that the 24 hour stamp sale is now in full swing - full details on yesterday’s post here. You have until 10.50pm this evening to snap up a bargain!

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

 

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

EVERGREEN FOREST 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	CHRISTMAS TREES DIES (£33.00)	SEASONAL SWIRLS DIES (£32.00)	SUBTLE SHIMMER SEQUINS (£6.00)	HIGHLAND HEATHER A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
POOL PARTY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	FLIRTY FLAMINGO A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	HIGHLAND HEATHER CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	SHIMMERY WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.25)

This is my second post of today - you can see my earlier Festive Friday post here in case you missed it. This is my design team card for our new challenge over at As you See It where it's time for a colour challenge:

I really love this combination of deep Blackberry Bliss, bright Granny Apple Green and white with a dash of metallic silver. I made another Christmas card, this time using my new Delicate Baubles Dies - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

This card was actually really easy to create: I added a strip of Regals DSP to my card base, then added some adhesive sheet to my bauble background and paper-pieced the details into the top layer of my bauble in the challenge colours, adding a trio of rhinestones for extra sparkle:

A silver heat-embossed sentiment from 'Tidings and Trimmings' completes my festive 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'm a sucker for an interesting die and I love the detail on the baubles in this set - you will definitely be seeing more of them this festive season!

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.
• In a colour challenge, black or other neutral can be used in outlines and sentiments but no other colours should be included. Stampin’ Up colours are used for reference but colours that are a close match are welcome.

Today marks the end of a three-day expedition by the eldest of the James Juniors for her silver Duke of Edinburgh award so I am expecting tired feet this evening! At the same time, the youngest of the Juniors is embarking on an army cadet weekend and will be sleeping out in the forest somewhere in the wilds of Cambridgeshire this evening under an improvised shelter. He has an Arctic sleeping bag, but I am really hoping the rain holds off! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

DELICATE BAUBLES DIES (£33.00)	REGALS 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 CM) DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£10.75)	BLACKBERRY BLISS A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)
SILVER FOIL 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) SPECIALTY PACK (£9.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)	TIDINGS & TRIMMINGS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£17.00)

Today I'm sharing a couple of cards with you. I held my monthly class online at the start of the week and it featured the Merriest Moments bundle and following the discussions we had on the call I wanted to share another couple of cards featuring the most versatile of bundles. My first card is for the current challenge over at The Alphabet Challenge Blog, where they are on 'N is for No Layer'. I made the simplest of cards using a festive red and white colour combination - take a look:

I embossed my thick basic white card base directly with the Merriest Frames Hybrid Embossing Folder and stamped my sentiment directly into the frame centre in Real Red. This embossing folder really is so pretty and whilst I did try a version adding some colour to the foliage, I didn't like it anywhere near as much as the 'naked' version - the detail of the embossing is stunning and I'm not sure that the photos do it justice:

This really is one of the easiest cards to make and would be great both for cards that need to be sent overseas and weight is an issue for example, or you simply want an impressive design that can be produced in multiples really quickly.

For my second card, I wanted to use the same embossing folder to join this week's trend week challenge over at Just Us Girls where they are asking us to experiment with a technique called heat embossed embossing folders:

If you've never tried this technique before, you should definitely watch Jennifer McGuire's video on it where she gives a thorough overview and lots of examples - you can see her video here. I've never tried it before, but though the Merriest Frames Hybrid Embossing Folder would be a great one to experiment with. For this card, I went bold with a festive Real Red and metallic gold colour combination - take a look:

I decided to use the whole embossing folder and not cut out the foliage frame, as I wanted the background detail too. I added my red panel to a red card base, and also heat embossed my sentiment into gold onto a red stitched rectangle which I popped up on dimensionals in the centre of the frame, adding a trio of red sparkly faceted dots for good measure. Check out the detail that the heat embossing adds to the foliage:

This was a really fun technique to try and I have to say I think the key to getting a good finish is to use a traditional rubber brayer to ink the flat side of your embossing folder with the Versamark - this way you don't get it into areas where you don't want to see the heat embossed detail and it picks out the surrounding space easily. This was my first attempt and will definitely be experimenting with other versions (and embossing folders!) If this technique is something that interests you, you should definitely check out the Just Us Girls DT samples and the gallery, where you will also see another sample using this embossing folder made by one of my lovely class attendees, Deborah Wheeler - how great that we were both inspired following my class!

I was asked by one of my customers last week, "If you could only choose one new bundle this Christmas, which one would it be?" This was a question that required much thought before answering, not least because I have never been known to buy just one stamp set and the beauty of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is that I acquire lots and lots of stamp sets cheaply or even for free! I decided that if I was only buying one bundle, it would have to be something that was versatile; I would want to be able to do lots of things with it and not get bored due to a lack of creative opportunities. The answer I gave to that customer? The Merriest Moments Bundle - it absolutely delivers on all fronts!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on today's projects 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:

MERRIEST MOMENTS BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£50.25)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)
METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	WONDERFUL GEMS (£7.50)