Today I have a couple of festive Christmas cards that I made using my favourite 'Festive Foliage' background stamp from the annual catalogue - here's the first one:

I stamped one background stamp in Real Red on Basic White and another in Versamark onto Real Red cardstock and heat embossed it in white, then split the panels and swapped them so that there is one of each on each card for contrast. Here's the second one:

I added a sentiment from 'Poinsettia Petals' on a label cut with my Tasteful Labels Dies and backed each with some white glittered organdy ribbon from the upcoming mini catalogue:  

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've been looking at creative ways to use background stamps for my upcoming online class in September that features both the 'Festive Foliage' and 'Daisy Garden' background stamps and will look at ways to use them for all-year round cards. A split panel card is a great way to create two cards quickly using the same background stamp, so today's post is a nice taster for my class ladies who are already signed up for this class. If you would like to join them, you can find full details for this and all my online classes on my Facebook Page here or just message me for more information.

I used the sketch over at Inspire.Create and the monochromatic red colour scheme from over at The Rainbow Challenge as further inspiration for my cards today and since I'm still doing Christmas I'm also linking up with Christmas Craft Creations and their 'anything goes' theme.

The weather here has alternated today between brilliant sunshine and torrential downpours and apart from giving up on using the washing line completely, I have successfully managed to get a whole bunch of errands run whilst dodging the rain (mostly!) Since we are on the summer holidays, the children are taking turns to help out with cooking the evening meal. One is more enthusiastic than the other (I wonder if you can guess which one!) Needless to say, if I survive the flour tornado that is currently my kitchen, I will be eating Turkish-style flatbread pizzas for dinner this evening! Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

FESTIVE FOLIAGE CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	REAL RED CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	BASICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)
TASTEFUL LABELS DIES (£29.00)	POINSETTIA PETALS PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£25.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Holly is hosting this month and our final challenge this month is a sketch challenge featuring stripes: 

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

For my card today I was also inspired by the photo inspiration over at Just Us Girls and the similar nautical theme over at Festive Friday (I chose blue, red and twine) to create another clean and simple congratulations card using my whale builder punch - take a look:

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

I flipped the colours in the bottom-right JUGS inspiration photo and added a simple navy blue punched whale to a set of red and white cardstock stripes. with a sentiment from the 'Whale Done' stamp set and this time adding a cute mortar board to my whale since once again exam congratulations are in order. To create my mortar board, I handcut a diamond shape from black cardstock and added it to a small rectangle then threaded some basic black twine through it and secured at the back before unravelling it to create my tassel

The tassel was the fussiest part of today's card, which otherwise is super clean and simple. Great for a masculine congratulations card I'm thinking - nothing too fussy!

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. 

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! color 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.

Enjoy your day; I'll be dodging the thunderstorms! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHALE PUNCH (£17.00)	WHALE DONE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)	NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	REAL RED A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	BASIC BLACK A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BAKER'S TWINE ESSENTIALS PACK (£10.25)

Happy Monday everyone! I had a little extra crafting time at the weekend so to start the week I have not one, but two cards that were inspired by some current challenges. My first card is using Amy's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches this week and I'm also linking up over at Time Out where the code word is 'hungry' and at Christmas Craft Creations where their theme is 'anything goes':

I didn't let myself be put off by Amy's diagonal lines and decided that some festive gingerbread was in order - take a look:

My card features two of the designs in the Gingerbread & Peppermint designer series paper set from the upcoming mini catalogue - the gingerbread cookies are cut out of one of the papers (the sentiment is from a retired set):

This suite makes me hungry just looking at it - I mean, is it too early to start baking gingerbread in July?!

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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. 

My second card uses the colours over at Color Throwdown and I went across the top row of Paper Craft Crew's tic-tac-toe board with trees/diecut/watercolour:

Following my AYSI team mate Amy's fabulous watercolour using this stamp set, I was itching to have a go at creating with a stamp called 'feels Like Home' that will be free with a £45 purchase in the upcoming Sale-A-Bration promotion. I though the Color Throwdown colours had a lovely Mediterranean feel to them, so I had visions of holiday isles as I watercoloured my simple scene. I added a sentiment cut with one of the label dies in another new set, Harvest Dies:

This set so reminds me of summer holidays abroad; such a distant memory, but whilst my own garden doesn't look anywhere near as Mediterranean, it is my happy place so will be just fine until we are able to truly travel far and wide again.

Here is the visual summary of the key products used on this 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 hope you are enjoying my sneak-peek shares - I can't believe I'm feeling so in the festive zone when it's so warm and sunny outside, but the temptation of a box of new goodies is too much to resist!

Enjoy your day 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 Ann to host this week and she has my favourite, a sketch challenge for you to work with:

I had so many great ideas for this sketch! I also loved the rainbow of purples, blues and greens on that fabulous bird on the Color Dare inspiration photo, so decided to pair them with the stamp in the Colours & Contours set for a stem of rainbow flowers - take a look:

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

Colours and Contours - I coloured the infill stamp of the main flower stem in the Colours & Contours stamp set using my sponge daubers and a trio of blue and purple inks, the cut it out with the co-ordinating die. I added it to a panel cut with one of the Scalloped Contours Dies (and narrowed slightly), having stamped the sentiment directly onto this panel. I added another sentiment and additional flower from the same set to the inside of my card:

Rainbow Glimmer - The rainbow of colours that I used enabled me to use some co-ordinating rainbow glimmer paper for my horizontal strips to compliment flowers. Whilst there's only a little of it visible, I love the addition of that sparkle and glimmer:

Pattern Party - In order to allow my glimmer paper to really stand out, I chose a piece of neutral black and white Pattern Party paper for my background. The Pattern Party paper pack is a hostess reward that you can earn with purchases of £150+ and is such great value with a great variety of patterns and designs 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; I will be spending mine cooking and having a lazy day with the family. I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

COLOR & CONTOUR BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£47.50)	PATTERN PARTY 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 CM) HOST DESIGNER SERIES PAPER (£17.00)	RAINBOW GLIMMER PAPER (£5.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)
COASTAL CABANA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	PACIFIC POINT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GORGEOUS GRAPE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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

I was inspired not just by the colours but also the picture Jane chose for this week's challenge and decided these colours would be perfect for another sneak peek of new products from the upcoming mini catalogue - take a look:

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

Harvest Dies - These colours are perfect for some autumnal colour so I decided I would use them to sponge some rudbeckias that I cut out with my new Harvest Dies. If you like the Meadow Dies in the annual catalogue, then you'll definitely love these! Including grasses and flowers, these work well with the co-ordinating stamp set and stand alone too. I cut out some ears of corn in Crushed Curry cardstock, then cut two rudbeckias in white and used my sponges to add and build colour to them, finishing with a few dots to the centre added with a Stampin' Write marker. The leaves and petals also have a faint embossed detail, which I accentuated by adding colour with markers.

Ornate Layers Panel - I also used another die on my card today - the long panel piece was cut using my favourite in the Ornate Layers set from the annual catalogue. I love the subtle diecut and stitched detail it has.

Painted Texture - I used a piece of retired ombre paper that I had in my bits box for my panel, but you could easily recreate this with some Crushed Curry ink and a blending brush. Before adding to my card, I ran it through my Painted Texture Embossing Folder for a little extra texture. You can see that more closely here:

A sentiment from the Quiet Meadow stamp set and twine bow finish my card.

Don't worry I am not done with summer yet, but these warm colours were perfect for today's more autumnal project. A fun fact for you - rudbeckias, or cone flowers or black-eyed susans as they are sometimes called, are pioneer plants and some of the first to grow following a natural disaster, such as fire. In the language of flowers they also represent encouragement - I'm thinking I should have read up on these before I made my card, I might have to switch out that sentiment now! Maybe next time ...

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.
• 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.

It's forecast a little cooler here in the UK today with a chance of thunderstorms across the weekend. I had a new garden parasol delivered yesterday - I hope that wasn't me tempting fate! Enjoy your day and I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

ORNATE LAYERS DIES (£34.00)	PAINTED TEXTURE 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£8.25)	QUIET MEADOW CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	CRUSHED CURRY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
CAJUN CRAZE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CRUSHED CURRY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	CALYPSO CORAL CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GARDEN GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	LINEN THREAD (£4.75)

We might be in the middle of a summer heatwave here in the UK, but there's a pre-order in the house and lots of Christmas in July challenges out there currently, so I finally managed a clean and simple card for a couple of them:

Both Less Is More and SUO Challenges have a Christmas In July theme, so I decided to play with a new set from my mini catalogue pre-order called Thinking Thanks and Peace  - take a look:

This set features a selection of large sentiments for a variety of occasions. I heat embossed the Christmas one in gold onto Night of Navy, then cut out a panel with a rectangle stitched die, added a gold border and adhered to a navy card base. I paper-pieced a gold-on-white embossed dove, having first coloured with a white pencil but I couldn't get the bright white effect that I was after and I like this much better:

In fact, I love this card so much, I actually made two! This sentiment set is great for quick, clean and simple cards - I think I'll be using it a lot in the run up to the festive season.

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:

STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)

METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)

NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

GOLD FOIL SHEETS (£4.75)

BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. Holly is hosting this month and our this week's challenge is a colour challenge: 

For my card today I decided to use the sketch over at Fusion for my layout, but instead of going with graphic blues, I chose ombre greens for a 'get well soon' card featuring an out-of-sorts tortoise - take a look:

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

I used some retired paper that featured the challenge colours to create a background frame to compliment my tortoise, leaving the central panel clear with nothing other than my one word sentiment to leave all the focus on my sweet upside-down tortoise that I coloured with a combination of Stampin' Write Markers and Blends in the appropriate colours: 

I love the fun expression on this tortoise's face, and it pairs perfectly with the remainder of the sentiment that I stamped on the inside of my card: 

I made this card for a dear friend of mine who was out walking her sweet terrier dog when she was literally bowled over by an over-enthusiastic labrador that resulted in her falling to the ground to the sound of a loud 'crack' and a broken leg. Following surgery she is now confined to a wheelchair for at least the next 6 weeks, so this card seemed quite fitting and will hopefully raise a smile through the frustration she is most certainly feeling  at the moment.

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. 

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! color 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.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

BACK ON YOUR FEET CLING STAMP SET (£20.00)	STITCHED SO SWEETLY DIES (£30.00)	LAYERING CIRCLES DIES (£33.00)	PEAR PIZZAZZ A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	GARDEN GREEN A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)
BASIC WHITE A4 CARDSTOCK (£9.00)	2020–2022 IN COLOR STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£13.75)	REGALS STAMPIN' WRITE MARKERS (£27.50)	TUXEDO BLACK MEMENTO INK PAD (£5.50)

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 a fun clean and simple challenge for you to work with:

I resisted the urge to go with something punny today and instead used Narelle's sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the basis for a cluster of wildflowers to attract my solitary bee - take a look:

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

I added a recessed panel featuring a piece embossed with the Bricks and Mortar embossing folder and used this as the backdrop for my trio of wildflower/grass elements courtesy of the Meadow Dies. Two of these I cut out of coloured cardstock and the third I sponged to create a cornflower-inspired bloom to attract my golden bumblebee trinket:

I added a sentiment from the Quiet Meadow stamp set to a banner piece that is included in the Meadow Dies set to complete the outside of my card. I also added a little more stamping to finish the inside:

I hope you like my shiny bee as much as I do! We look forward to seeing your bee creations, but remember this is 'clean and simple' week so ensure your cards have: 

• minimal layers
• little to no embellishments
• lots of clean white space (minimal pattern)

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; the weather has been absolutely scorching here in the UK this last few days, so there's unlikely to be much crafting done today as my office becomes a furnace from about 11am onwards! I will definitely be taking it easy and enjoying it whilst it lasts! I'll be back soon with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

QUIET MEADOW BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	STITCHED RECTANGLE DIES (£33.00)	BRICK & MORTAR 3D EMBOSSING FOLDER (£9.25)	BUMBLEBEE TRINKETS (£7.00)
NIGHT OF NAVY A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	BUMBLEBEE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)	BALMY BLUE CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	MISTY MOONLIGHT CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)

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 Betty is our featured designer this week. This is the fun board that we are playing along with: 

I went across the middle with diecut/sentiment/metallic for my card today and decided to use my Artistic Dies to create a pretty and clean card - take a look:

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

Artistic Dies - This main diecut from the Artistic Dies is so very pretty! I decided to go white-on-white today with a pop of colour peeking through beneath:

Artistically Inked - There was an experimental element to my card today, in that I wanted to see if I could get the floral stamps in the Artistically Inked to line up with the detail of the dies. So pleased to discover that this was quite easy to do and I’m looking forward to sharing how I did this, along with some tips and tricks, with the ladies that are attending my Artistically Inked class next week as we are going to do something similar.

A Trio of Metallics - For my trio of metallics, I heat embossed my sentiment in silver, and added some silver thread and a trio of sparkly rhinestones. Just enough to add a touch of metallic for a little extra detail.

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. 

i really like today’s card; lots of the cards I’ve made to date using this suite have included lots of elements and I think this pared back look is much more in keeping with my go-to style. That makes it a great card to link up with the girls over at SUO Challenges where they have a ‘Designer’s Choice’ challenge this week.

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; the James Juniors and I have been to the beach today which was a lot of fun - I’m sure we will sleep well tonight! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

ARTISTICALLY INKED BUNDLE (ENGLISH) (£49.50)	BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)	POLISHED PINK CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	FRESH FREESIA CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)	GRANNY APPLE GREEN CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)
SIMPLY ELEGANT TRIM (£7.00)	METALLICS EMBOSSING POWDERS (£17.00)	VERSAMARK PAD (£8.75)	RHINESTONE BASIC JEWELS (£4.75)

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge over at CAS Colours & Sketches. This week's challenge is a sketch challenge and Holly has asked that we include a diamond shape on the front of our card:

Feel free to flip or rotate the sketch when making your card.

Holly's layout was perfect for the idea I had for my Card Concept card for their summer challenge too - check out that gorgeous inspiration photo! I was particularly taken with that tricolour whale in the inspiration photo but was also inspired by the white starfish and sand dollars, and the wavy design and texture of the white cushion in the background to create my clean and layered card today - take a look:

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

I stamped my whale in Night of Navy onto both Basic White and Balmy Blue, then used my whale punch to punch out the various pieces and then pieced them together to create my fun whale. I positioned it on a square of (retired) Whale of a Time designer series paper featuring ombre waves and added some punched water from the same paper above the whale's blowhole.

I layerered this square onto a white square embossed with the (retired) Seabed embossing folder; you can't see much of this detail, but it has lots of little starfish, coral, seaplants and such on it and it adds a nice additional detail. I added another piece of the whale paper to create an ombre border between my base layers and finished with a 'whale done!' sentiment from the stamp set of the same name. 

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. 

A friend's daughter just graduated from university with a First in Psychology, so this card will be making it's way to her with our congratulations - I know she will appreciate the punny sentiment! With my own daughter and her friends having sat GCSEs and a few more friends having sat A-Levels this year, I'm going to be needing a few more congratulations cards in the coming weeks, so I think I need to get cracking!

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

WHALE DONE PHOTOPOLYMER STAMP SET (ENGLISH) (£16.00)

WHALE PUNCH (£17.00)

BASIC WHITE A4 THICK CARDSTOCK (£7.75)

BALMY BLUE A4 CARDSTOCK (£8.25)

NIGHT OF NAVY CLASSIC STAMPIN' PAD (£7.00)