It's Sunday, the start of a new month and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! The queen of beautiful florals, the talented Sandy, is the hostess this week and her passion is reflected in her chosen theme this week:

I had the best of intentions of producing a fabulously over-the-top floral to honour the lovely Sandy today, but the last minute preparations for my stand at the Crafting Live Exhibition at Stoneleigh Park this weekend meant that my time rather ran away with me this week and instead I've resorted to sharing much more of a clean and simple card that I already had 'in the bag' as it were. Today's card uses one the runaway success bundles from the current seasonal catalogue - Painted Harvest. Take a look:

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

Painted Harvest - What can I say other than I LOVE these sunflowers! The sentiments in this set are lovely but it's the sunflowers that get me: it is a two-step stamp set that gives a beautiful watercoloured effect and as they are photopolymer it's so easy to stamp. They are so forgiving - they look great however you line them up! If you're a first-time stamper, this would be a great set to cut your teeth on. 

Add A Leaf - The leaves in the stamp set also match up with the leaf punch which is the other item that can be bought in the Painted Harvest bundle for a saving of 10% - that's why we all love a bundle!

Autumnal Colour Combinations - These sunflowers can be stamped in both traditional and less traditional colours; here is my sample board showing how they look stamped in a number of autumnal coloured floral combinations:

Which one is your favourite? I also made a whole bunch of these cards, minus the twine, to send out to my customers with my seasonal catalogues and as thank you cards to be included with my open house orders - here are some of them up close so you can see the colour combinations in more detail. 

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Daffodil Delight:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Peekaboo Peach:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Tangerine Tango:

This one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Cajun Craze:

Lastly my favourite of all, this one is a combination of Crushed Curry and Cherry Cobbler:

This is by no means an exhaustive set of colour combinations. Let me know in the comments below which ones are your favourites or what other combinations you've tried that you would like to share.  

Also, if you live local to me in or around Northampton, I have a class using this set scheduled for Monday 6th November - read more about it here or contact me to book your place! 

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:

I look forward to seeing what you create with this week's theme. Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly; I'll be spending a second day at the Crafting Live Show at Stoneleigh Park today - come and say hello to me on stand A10 if a visit is part of your weekend plans. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Painted Harvest Photopolymer Bundle	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad	Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad	Wild Wasabi A4 Cardstock
Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pad	Linen Thread	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock	Everyday Label Punch	Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock

Happy Friday everyone! I'm not sure where the time goes - I can't believe it's the end of the working week already - well, for some anyway! Today I'm sharing a another card along with a matching gift box from one of last month's monthly technique classes using the At Home With You bundle - take a look:

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

At Home With You At Christmas - The At Home With You bundle is so versatile and works for lots of different seasons. Today's card features the gorgeous holly bough around the door, along with the holly wreath and the ornamental trees either side of the front door. I coloured them with my Stampin' Write markers and they were easily cut out with the framelits. I even decorated the inside and envelope for complete co-ordination.

More Ways To Add Texture - As with the last card I shared featuring this set (you can see that card here if you missed it), today's card has another three ways in which you can incorporate texture into your projects:

Adding Texture 1: Stamping To add to the Christmas feel, I wanted a red front door; by stamping my Real Red cardstock with the Hardwood stamp in Real Red, before stamping with the door outline in black, to add some tone-on-tone interest and texture for added kerb appeal.

Adding Texture 2: Dry Embossing On both my card and box I embossed the Smoky Slate base cardstock with my Brick Wall textured embossing folder to create some textured walls as a backdrop for my festive entrance.

Adding Texture 3: Embellish Sometimes on a card it helps to minimise bulk especially if you need it to be post-friendly, however this is rarely the case with packaging and the addition of bulky embellishments is less of an issue. On my gift box, in addition to a tag and ribbon, I added a boxwood wreath to my front door - I love the extra texture this adds.

A Matching Gift Box - It's always nice to be able to create fancy packaging for gifts and no more so than at this time of year. I made my simple gift box using the Gift Bag Punch Board (I just didn't score the side indents to make the bag shape) and created a little triangle roof for a lid (it's a simple hinged closure that is held in place with washi tape) that I stencilled some tile on using some Basic Grey ink and my brick pattern Patterned Party Decorative Mask and added a tag punched with the super-useful Everyday Label Punch:

This box measures approx. and is a reasonable size, big enough to accommodate most small gifts. Here's a picture of both items together:

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

At Home With You Photopolymer Bundle	Brick Wall Textured Impressions Embossing Folder	Real Red A4 Cardstock	Hardwood Clear-Mount Stamp	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock	Basic Gray A4 Cardstock	Many Marvelous Markers	Boxwood Wreaths Embellishments	Pattern Party Decorative Masks
Gift Bag Punch Board	Whisper White A4 Cardstock	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad	Quilted Christmas 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Ribbon	Hearts Come Home Clear-Mount Stamp Set
Everyday Label Punch