I've had a busy couple of days with some of my team at Stampin' Up!'s Onstage event in Birmingham to celebrate the launch of the upcoming Spring Summer catalogue. More about that in my later post though as for now it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players! It's the turn of the queen of diecuts, the lovely Laurie, to host this week and she has an unusual colour challenge for you to work with:

When I first saw this colour combination I almost ran a mile and it did have me stumped initially, although a sudden flash of inspiration led to me not only creating with but loving this trio that I used to create another Christmas card to share with you this week  - take a look:

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

Love Never Melts - What could be sweeter than this pair of snowmen, all wrapped up in their winter woollies and hats? I coloured their accessories using a combination of my Stampin' Write markers and Stampin' Blends and added a Smoky Slate outline to the snowy areas for a touch of extra definition. I'm hoping Laurie will forgive me the liberty of adding a touch of green to my holly leaves, but I'm afraid it just had to be done! The sentiments in this stamp set are so sweet - the one on today's card is perfect to send festives wishes to your bestie and continues onto the inside of the card:

Another Custom Plaid - When considering what paper to pair with my snowmen, I drew a blank. Instead, I decided to create another custom plaid design using my Buffalo Check stamp set in Smoky Slate and using the thick and thin ends of my Stampin' Write markers in Poppy Parade and So Saffron respectively to customise my pattern. I love the Buffalo Check stamp on its own, yet love how you can create such fun and unique patterns with this stamp. What colour combinations and patterns would you try?

Subtle Sparkle and Shine - Although difficult to see on my photos, all of the snowy areas on my image are brushed with clear Wink of Stella and the red heart the snowmen are holding has been painted using a fine tipped glue pen to give a wonderful glossy shine when dry. The shimmer and gloss are subtle, but they are there and add so much to this clean and simple 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 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 can't wait to see what you create with this week's colours and look forward to visiting your blogs this week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend as it will be over all too quickly. I'll be back tomorrow with another project; until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Spirited Snowmen Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Buffalo Check Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£14.00)	Smoky Slate Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Smoky Slate Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Call Me Clover Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)
Fine-Tip Glue Pen (£6.50)	Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush (£7.50)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)

Today I'm sharing a card using last week's sketch over at the Paper Craft Crew:

I have a technique class featuring the Beautiful Blizzard Bundle next week and having designed the cards for my class I wanted to create another card in a similar colourway to demonstrate the versatility of this set and this sketch was perfect - take a look:

 Here's the low-down on today's card:

Beautiful Blizzard - This is such a pretty stamp set; the splodges, spots and wisps make it easy to create lots of texture in detail with minimal layering. I stamped the background behind my sentiment oval in a combination of Balmy Blue and Night of Navy, stamping some of the images full strength and stamping some off first to create depth. I also added a little touch of snow to the inside too:

Frosted Shimmer Snowflakes - I used a couple of the snowflakes cut with my Blizzard Thinlits Die to embellish my sentiment oval, liberally sponging each with Frosted White Shimmer Paint for a wonderful soft shimmery finish.

A Snowflake Trinket - To finish my card, I added one of the new snowflake trinkets too - because you can never have too many snowflakes!

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; I've a busy day in my craft room today catching up following a busy day yesterday. One big thing achieved though - finally got the last bits in the kitchen finished so I'm all set to decorate the week after next then I'll be able to share some pictures! I'll be back tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Beautiful Blizzard Clear-Mount Bundle (£42.25)	Beautiful Blizzard Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£21.00)	Blizzard Thinlits Die (£26.00)	Frost White Shimmer Paint (£7.50)
Snowflake Trinkets (£7.50)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Balmy Blue Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Balmy Blue A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Frosted & Clear Epoxy Droplets (£8.25)

Today I've another post for you and I'm sharing not one but three cards - all variations on a theme for this week's challenge over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

Now normally I would run a mile at the thought of a colour and sketch combo. but I saw this one and immediately loved it! I no longer have those three retired Stampin' Up! ink colours, so I substituted with a current trio of similar colours:

I used my three colours to create the same card in three colourways - here's the basic design:

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

Detailed Baubles - The multiple bauble stamp in the 'Beautiful Baubles' stamp set was perfect to accompany my sentiment on the portrait feature panel on my card. I stamped it in the same colour as my card base, then used one of the other three colours to mat this layer and tie with a co-ordinating ribbon. I stamped the baubles again on a piece of spare cardstock and used my In-Colour Stampin' Write Markers to add selective colour to a few of my baubles, before cutting out with the Detailed Baubles Thinlits and popping some of the baubles up with mini-dimensionals to add interest. 

Tone on Tone Backgrounds - I initially left my base layer blank, but it seemed a little too plain. I tried stamping a tone-on-tone background all over with the large bauble stamp in this set and decided I quite like it - so repeated in the other colourways too. 

Mix and Match - This card was easy to replicate and achieve a different look simply by switching the colours of the bases and layers around. I ended up creating six cards in one go, two in each colourway. A nice dent on my Christmas card pile and with the focus on three in-colours too, it meant that I didn't need a ton of supplies either - bonus! Here's a picture showing all three colourways:

And I stamped the inside 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 '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:

Beautiful Baubles Photopolymer Bundle (£40.50)	In Color 2018–2020 A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Lovely Lipstick Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Call Me Clover Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Blueberry Bushel Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Lovely Lipstick 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Grosgrain Ribbon (£5.50)	Call Me Clover 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Grosgrain Ribbon (£5.50)	Blueberry Bushel 1/8" (3.2 Mm) Grosgrain Ribbon (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	In Color 2018–2020 Stampin' Write Markers (£13.75)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current challenge over at Freshly Made Sketches where they have the following sketch to work with:

This layout was perfect for me to make another snowflake card using the exclusive limited offer Snowflake Showcase products that I shared with you last week - take a look:

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

Softly Falling - I reached for my perennial favourite embossing folder, Softly Falling, for the perfect snowy backdrop  for my Snowflake Christmas tree. The texture adds just enough interest and detail without detracting from my snowflakes and trees and ties in with my wintry theme beautifully. 

Snow is Glistening - I decided to feature the snowflake Christmas tree on my card today. This is such a versatile stamp - with the aid of the Stamparatus or a Stampamajig, the image can be stamped in a row to create a border too as well as this fabulous snowy tree. I heat embossed my sentiment in white onto a strip of Bermuda Bay for an extra pop of colour against my pastel card. I also used another of the border stamps in the set for some falling snow on the inside too:

Snowflake Swirls - I couldn't resist using the snowflake swirls die cut from the Snowfall Thinlits set for the horizontal element on today's card (I had to trim the end slightly to fit), although it seemed a shame to hide it behind the portrait upright panel - I had to cut this into the tree shape to show off as much of the swirl as possible. I just love it!

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:

Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Snow Is Glistening Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Softly Falling Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.00)	Snowfall Thinlits Dies (£36.00)	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Pool Party A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Bermuda Bay Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Bermuda Bay A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)
Embossing Buddy (£5.50)	Rhinestone Basic Jewels (£4.75)

Today it's Sunday and time for this week's new challenge over at The Paper Players - yay! It's the turn of my wonderful friend Claire to host this week and she has a timely theme challenge for you to work with that I know she would love you to play along with:

I know that Claire loves Thanksgiving and whilst it isn't something we celebrate here in the UK, the underlying theme of being grateful and thankfulness is one we should all celebrate. I used both the sketch layout and photo inspiration over at Fusion and CASual Fridays as starting points for today's card: warm autumn leaves and wood textures feature heavily on my card this week - take a look:

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

Textured Layers -  I wanted to create texture on my card and did something quite unusual for me: used not one, but two embossing folders on my background panels. To recreate the grey weatherboard effect, I used my Simple Stripes embossing folder on a panel of Smoky Slate. For my feature panel, I used a piece of Wood Textures Designer Series Paper and added further texture by running this through my Pinewood Planks embossing folder. I love the effect this gives - it adds so much interest and detail.

A Wreath of Twigs and Leaves - I stamped the wreath from the Wishing You Well stamp set in Early Espresso onto a stitched circle of Very Vanilla and punched out the middle using my 1 1/4"  circle punch, so that more of the textured wood panel could be seen. I coloured a selection of pearls in various sizes with my Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight and Cajun Craze Blends markers to suggest leaves and then added a trio of actual leaves cut with my Seasonal Layers Thinlits to frame my sentiment (I sponged the edges of the leaves to add depth).

Something For The Thanksgiving Table - When I started my card, I wanted to create a wreath like the one in the Fusion inspiration photo. I made a wreath in autumnal colours using my sprig punch that I really loved, but when it came to adding it to my card, it was a little too bulky so I went back to the drawing board. I didn't want my punched wreath to go to waste though, so instead I attached it to a band of Very Vanilla stamped with my Buffalo Check stamp in Crushed Curry, added a banner sentiment and a braided linen twine bow and made a napkin ring - perfect for the Thanksgiving table. Here's a photo of my finished napkin ring:

I'm linking my napkin ring up with the ladies over at SUO Challenges where they are looking for home decor items for the Thanksgiving table. This was so easy to make yet really effective - you could make a while bunch of these to decorate the Thanksgiving table in a relatively short space of 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 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; it is the last day of the James Juniors' half term and there is hockey to be played along with a little down time before the return to school tomorrow. I'll be back here tomorrow with another project. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - For the card: 

Wishing You Well Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£18.00)	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Simple Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£8.00)
Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)	Smoky Slate A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Seasonal Layers Thinlits Dies (£31.00)	1-1/4" (3.2 Cm) Circle Punch (£15.00)	Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Cajun Craze A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Cajun Craze Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pearl Basic Jewels (£4.75)	Linen Thread (£4.75)	Daffodil Delight Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)	Pumpkin Pie Dark Stampin' Blends Marker (£4.25)

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used - For the napkin ring: 

Sprig Punch (£17.00)	Painted Harvest Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (£9.25)	Wood Textures Designer Series Paper Stack (£10.25)
Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Early Espresso A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Cajun Craze A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Bunch Of Banners Framelits Dies (£25.00)	3/16" (1 Cm) Braided Linen Trim (£6.50)

Today I'm sharing a card for the current Inspire.Create Challenge where they have a great sketch that I just couldn't resist:

I was tempted to go with a focal piece of designer series paper and one of the fabulous festive word dies we have for the horizontal element, but with some great Design Team examples of this, I decided to take a slightly different tack and explore options around the horizontal piece. I ended up making two cards, each with the same basic design, however one portrait and the other landscape - take a look:

And here's the landscape version that uses the whole of each of the diecut pieces:

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

Bethlehem Edgelits - I decided that the landscapes in the Bethlehem Edgelits set would make a perfect horizontal feature on my card and that informed my decision to make two cards: one in a landscape orientation in order to accommodate them completely and a second in a portrait orientation that necessitated me trimming them to fit. For each card, I layered a white top layer on a Night of Navy bottom layer and embossed the sentiment in white onto the navy base layer. 

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star - You might be wondering how I created my atmospheric night sky; furthermore, you might be surprised to know that there was no sponging, brayering or splattering required. This rather realistic sky is courtesy of one of the patterns in the Twinkle Twinkle designer series paper pack. Part of a suite originally designed for baby and children projects, many of the starry papers in this pack work for plenty of other projects - especially this one. It is easy to overlook certain packs of papers and to be fair the catalogue doesn't always make it easy to see some of the detail. The lovely people at Stampin' up! have produced this great video though that shows these papers in more detail:

Here's the papers from the current seasonal catalogue too:

And of course you can continue to follow my blog; you all know how much I love patterned paper!

A Night In Bethlehem - With the exception of the 'O Holy Night' sentiment on the front of the landscape card (this comes from the 'Illuminated Christmas' stamp set in the current seasonal stamp set), all of the stamping on my card comes from the Night in Bethlehem stamp set, which also has this beautiful verse that is great for the inside of your card: 

The silhouetted images are great for easy decorating of your envelopes too - love a co-ordinated envelope! I do like to make cards that remind us of the true meaning of Christmas and this set is one of my favourites for reminding us why we celebrate at this special time of year. So which of these cards is your favourite - the portrait or landscape version? I like them both but would love to know what you think - do leave me a comment below with 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 'How To' summaries on my 'How To - Tips and Techniques' Pinterest board in case you've missed any. 

Enjoy your day, however you choose to spend it. The James family is off to the dentist for our 6-monthly checkup followed by something special in store which I'll share with you later in the week. I'll be back tomorrow with another project though for sure. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Bethlehem Edgelits Dies (£30.00)	Night In Bethlehem Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£20.00)	Twinkle Twinkle Designer Series Paper (£10.25)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Night Of Navy A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Night Of Navy Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	White Stampin' Emboss Powder (£4.75)	Versamark Pad (£8.25)

I so enjoyed making my cards for this week's challenge over at The Paper Players that I shared with you yesterday, that I just had to make more with those fabulous little elves. As such today I'm sharing another card that I made using products from the Santa's Workshop Suite, along with a gift voucher holder made using the Envelope Punch Board. Both of these use the current sketch over at Freshly Made Sketches as the basis for my layout:

First up is my card - full of busy elves! Take a look:

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

More Santa's Workshop - I'm loving this elf patterned paper and whilst it's busy, it seemed the perfect background to accompany my sweet elf and his accompanying pile of Christmas presents. I love how the sentiment is in two halves and carries over neatly to the inside of my card:

Stitched Shapes and Layered Ovals - With all those elves, I wanted to keep the rest of my card fairly simple, so used a large stitched oval to create some additional white space around my sentiment, layered on a scallop-edged oval in Poppy Parade for definition. Whilst I don't often use ovals, preferring circles or squares generally, sometimes an oval is the shape that works best for balance. One thing I do use lots though are my Stitched Shapes Framelits - these are on my Top 5 Framelits Of All Time list (I must publish that list one of these days!) - a must have for adding subtle detail to your frames.

Envelope Punch Board Gift Card Holder - having made my card, I still had a couple of elves with flocked hats left that I had diecut from the Santa's Workshop DSP and decided that I would use the same basic layout but in a landscape orientation to get a headstart on my Christmas Gift Voucher holders. I created a simple wallet using my trusty Envelope Punch Board to create the closure; this is similar to ones I've created previously, only I decided to 'go large' this time and create a wallet large enough to hold £10 notes - I have growing nieces and nephews and these days, only cash will do so I am finding I need to come up with ever more creative ways to gift it! This wallet measures 6" x 6" square and again uses the sketch for the front layout (the stamp I used is from last year's retired Merry Little Labels set):

The wallet opens to reveal a sliding pocket insert, where the money sits in the pocket flap which opens to reveal Christmas wishes and with enough space above to include a personalised message: 

I love this style of wallet and make them often. If you would like the dimensions, then just leave a comment below - I'm thinking this might be worth another blog post in itself! 

This wallet would also be great to fill with Stampin' Up! gift vouchers for a crafty friend or even to treat yourself - if you would like to order Stampin' Up! gift vouchers for Christmas and receive them beautifully packaged in a wallet like this, then do get in touch and place your order.

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:

Santa's Workshop 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Santa's Signpost Framelits Dies (£30.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Bundle (£45.00)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.00)
Garden Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)
Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)

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

I decided that the sketch layers were perfect to showcase some designer series paper and since I am back creating for Christmas I knew exactly where to start - with a personal favourite this season. I ended up making not one, but two cards. Here's the first one: 

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

Santa's Workshop - The Santa's Workshop Suite is my favourite in this year's seasonal  Stampin' Up! catalogue: with Santa, elves and Mrs Claus - what's not to love? The Santa's Workshop Specialty Designer Series Paper is the star of the suite - not only choc-full of cute designs, but four of the twelve sheets have a fabulous white flocking detail which adds great texture - it reminds me of the Fuzzy Felt of my childhood! I used three different sheets on my card: two for the panels (one with the diagonal flocked stripes, the other with Santa's elves diligently delivering everything on Santa's list) and a third for my Santa himself, complete with list.

Fun With Framelits - With the exception of the sentiment, there is no other stamping on the front of my card. Even the jolly Santa is cut from the designer paper; yes, this pack is another that has designs that can be cut with the Santa's Signpost Framelits that co-ordinate with the Signs of Santa stamp set. I could have stamped the Santa and coloured him, but then I wouldn't have had the flocking adorning his bobble hat and I just couldn't pass that up! 

A Little Colouring Too - I did a little stamping and colouring both inside my card and on the front of my envelope to complete my project; you can see the envelope on the main photos above and below; here's a peek at the inside:

How sweet is Mrs. Claus?! I actually liked this card I decided to create another one with the same design - this time, making more of the diagonal striped paper to really show off the flocking:

So which of these do you prefer? I think I actually like the second one better, but I suspect that is because it's a little less busy in terms of pattern and I just love the red and white with the felt flocked detail. Do leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

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

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Santa's Workshop 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper (£13.00)	Santa's Signpost Framelits Dies (£30.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Signs Of Santa Photopolymer Bundle (£45.00)	Poppy Parade 1/2" (1.3 Cm) Textured Weave Ribbon (£7.00)
Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Poppy Parade Stampin' Blends Markers Combo Pack (£8.50)	Many Marvelous Markers (£112.75)

I've been enjoying a well-earned rest this week and some quality family time since the James Juniors are on their half-term break. Some time spent creating though so lots to share with you this next coming week - regular blogging may be about to make a comeback! Today I'm sharing a card using the current colours over at Global Design Project and the sketch over at CAS Colours and Sketches:

I'm also linking up with the Paper Craft Crew where the inspiration is trees and leaves. My card was a quick and easy card, using an old favourite - take a look:

I haven't used my Sheltering Tree stamp set in ages, but it is perfect for creating seasonal trees and great for clean and simple cards. I stamped the leaves twice, once in Pumpkin Pie and again, offsetting the image slightly, in Crushed Curry, to create my autumn leaves. I added a sprinkling of falling leaves and some leaves strewn across my swathe of Old Olive grass. I wanted the orange and yellow to be the dominant colours of my card today, so the only other place I've used green is to frame my central image, which I cropped quite tightly to accentuate those leaves and autumnal colours. 

Clean and simple autumn with just stamps, ink and paper - done!

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 a card (or two!) for the new challenge over at the Paper Players which begins tomorrow. Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used:

Sheltering Tree Photopolymer Stamp Set (£23.00)	Whisper White A4 Thick Cardstock (£7.25)	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Pumpkin Pie A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Crushed Curry A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Old Olive A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)

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

Remember in addition to including an apple on your card, this week is a Clean-and-Simple (CAS) challenge!  What do we mean by CAS?

• Minimal layers and embellishments
• Plenty of open space, aka "white" space
• Simple and uncluttered

I decided that for my card this week I was going to pair a little of something old with something new and create a bunch of thank you cards - take a look:

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

A Basket Of Apples - My little basket of apples comes from the Bike Ride set and is cut out with the Build A Bike framelits. This little image works in its own right - not a bike in sight on today's card! It is super quick and easy to stamp as the leaves and apples and basket all have solid images to be stamped to fill in the colour quickly and easily - great for clean and simple cards.

Thanks A Bunch - I layered my basket on a set of layered ovals, with a sentiment from the Beautiful Bouquet stamp set. Ok, so this stamp was designed to work with flowers, but I think it works for apples too!

Buffalo Check Background Made Easy - I know I'm using it again this week, but can you tell I'm loving the new Buffalo Check background stamp? I went with a straightforward single colour stamped image in Granny Apple Green to contrast with the apples - it reminds me of a picnic table cloth!

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

Having completed my full-size card for today, I decided to run off a whole bunch of these using the same design, in both a red and green colourway, to use as my customer thank you cards this month - here are two of my finished cards:

I actually think I prefer the balance of the size/shape of the oval on the lightly smaller card - what do you think? Either way, I like this design so much I think I'll run off a set of co-ordinating bag tags 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 with a lovely group of ladies on the second day of our weekend residential craft retreat - more about that in tomorrow's post! Until then, happy stampin'!

Stampin' Up! Supplies Used: 

Buffalo Check Clear-Mount Stamp Set (£14.00)	Bike Ride Photopolymer Stamp Set (£20.00)	Build A Bike Framelits Dies (£25.00)	Beautiful Bouquet Photopolymer Stamp Set (£25.00)	Layering Ovals Framelits Dies (£33.00)
Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies (£28.00)	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (£5.50)	Poppy Parade Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Granny Apple Green Stampin' Pad (£7.00)	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad (£7.00)
Granny Apple Green A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Poppy Parade A4 Cardstock (£8.00)	Whisper White A4 Cardstock (£9.00)	Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes (£6.00)